bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Processing by rhomboid protease is required for Providencia stuartii TatA to interact with TatC and to form functional homo‐oligomeric complexes
Authors: Fritsch Maximilian J. , Krehenbrink Martin , Tarry Michael J. , Berks Ben C. , Palmer Tracy 
Published: May 2012

SummaryThe twin arginine transport (Tat) system transports folded proteins across the prokaryotic cytoplasmic membrane and the plant thylakoid membrane. In Escherichia coli three membrane proteins, TatA, TatB and TatC, are essential components of the machinery. TatA from Providencia stuartii is homologous to E. coli TatA but is synthesized as an inactive pre‐protein with an N‐terminal extension of eight amino acids. Removal of this extension by the rhomboid protease AarA is required to activate P. stuartii TatA. Here we show that P. stuartii TatA can functionally substitute for E. coli TatA provided that the E. coli homologue of AarA, GlpG, is present. The oligomerization state of the P. stuartii TatA pro‐protein was compared with that of the proteolytically activated protein and with E. coli TatA. The pro‐protein still formed small homo‐oligomers but cannot form large TatBC‐dependent assemblies. In the absence of TatB, E. coli TatA or the processed form of P. stuartii TatA form a complex with TatC. However, this complex is not observed with the pro‐form of P. stuartii TatA. Taken together our results suggest that the P. stuartii TatA pro‐protein is inactive because it is unable to interact with TatC and cannot form the large TatA complexes required for transport.
Nutritional Factors and Hypospadias Risks
Authors: Carmichael Suzan L. , Ma Chen , Feldkamp Marcia L. , Munger Ronald G. , Olney Richard S. , Botto Lorenzo D. , Shaw Gary M. , Correa Adolfo 
Published: May 2012

AbstractCarmichael SL, Ma C, Feldkamp ML, Munger RG, Olney RS, Botto LD, Shaw GM, Correa A. Nutritional factors and hypospadias risks. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2012; ••: ••–••.Background:  We examined whether hypospadias was associated with several aspects of the diet, including intake of animal products, intake of several nutrients and food groups related to a vegetarian diet and oestrogen metabolism, and diet quality.Methods:  The study included deliveries from 1997 to 2005 that were part of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire during maternal telephone interviews, and two diet quality indices were developed based on existing indices. Analyses included 1250 cases with second‐ or third‐degree hypospadias (urethra opened at the penile shaft, scrotum or perineum) and 3118 male, liveborn, non‐malformed controls. All odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals [CI] were estimated from logistic regression models that included several potential confounders, including energy intake.Results:  Intake of animal products was not associated with hypospadias; for example, the adjusted OR for any vs. no intake of meat was 1.0 [95% CI 0.6, 1.6]. Frequency of intake of meat or other animal products was also not associated with hypospadias, nor was intake of iron or several nutrients that are potentially related to oestrogen metabolism. Diet quality was also not associated with hypospadias; the OR for diet quality in the highest vs. lowest quartile for the two diet quality indices were 1.0 [95% CI 0.6, 1.6] and 0.9 [95% CI 0.7, 1.1].Conclusion:  This large study does not support an association of a vegetarian diet or worse diet quality with hypospadias.
Hrip1, a novel protein elicitor from necrotrophic fungus, Alternaria tenuissima, elicits cell death, expression of defence‐related genes and systemic acquired resistance in tobacco
Authors: KULYE MAHESH , LIU HUA , ZHANG YULIANG , ZENG HONGMEI , YANG XIUFEN , QIU DEWEN 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACTHere, we report the identification, purification, characterization and gene cloning of a novel hypersensitive response inducing protein secreted by necrotrophic fungus, Alternaria tenuissima, designated as hypersensitive response inducing protein 1 (Hrip1). The protein caused the formation of necrotic lesions that mimic a typical hypersensitive response and apoptosis‐related events including DNA laddering. The protein‐encoding gene was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method. The sequence analysis revealed that the cDNA is 495 bp in length and the open reading frame (ORF) encodes for a polypeptide of 163 amino acids with theoretical pI of 5.50 and molecular weight of 17 562.5 Da. Hrip1 induced calcium influx, medium alkalinization, activation of salicylic acid‐induced protein kinase and several defence‐related genes after infiltration in tobacco leaves. Cellular damage, restricted to the infiltrated zone, occurred only several hours later, at a time when expression of defence‐related genes was activated. After several days, systemic acquired resistance was also induced. The tobacco plant cells that perceived the Hrip1 generated a cascade of signals acting at local, short, and long distances, and caused the coordinated expression of specific defence responses in a way similar to hypersensitivity to tobacco mosaic virus. Thus, Hrip1 represents a powerful tool to investigate further the signals and their transduction pathways involved in induced disease resistance in necrotrophic fungi.
MHC genotype predicts mate choice in the ring‐necked pheasantPhasianus colchicus
Authors: BARATTI M. , DESSÌ‐FULGHERI F. , AMBROSINI R. , BONISOLI‐ALQUATI A. , CAPRIOLI M. , GOTI E. , MATTEO A. , MONNANNI R. , RAGIONIERI L. , RISTORI E. , ROMANO M. , RUBOLINI D. , SCIALPI A. , SAINO N. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractFemales of several vertebrate species selectively mate with males on the basis of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. As androgen‐mediated maternal effects have long‐lasting consequences for the adult phenotype, both mating and reproductive success may depend on the combined effect of MHC genotype and exposure to androgens during early ontogeny. We studied how MHC‐based mate choice in ring‐necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) was influenced by an experimentalin ovotestosterone (T) increase. There was no conclusive evidence ofin ovoT treatment differentially affecting mate choice in relation to MHC genotype. However, females avoided mating with males with a wholly different MHC genotype compared with males sharing at least one MHC allele. Females also tended to avoid mating with MHC‐identical males, though not significantly so. These findings suggest that female pheasants preferred males with intermediate MHC dissimilarity. Male MHC heterozygosity or diversity did not predict the expression of ornaments or male dominance rank. Thus, MHC‐based mating preferences in the ring‐necked pheasant do not seem to be mediated by ornaments’ expression and may have evolved mainly to reduce the costs of high heterozygosity at MHC loci for the progeny, such as increased risk of autoimmune diseases or disruption of coadapted gene pools.
Stability in Activity and Boldness Across Time and Context in Captive Siberian Dwarf Hamsters
Authors: Kanda L. Leann , Louon Laura , Straley Katherine 
Published: May 2012

AbstractIndividual personality is an important source of variation in animal behavior. However, few studies have examined the reliability of individual behaviors across both time and context for even common temperament traits such as boldness, especially in mammals. We tested a laboratory colony of Siberian dwarf hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) in two similar assays, a tunnel maze and an open field, both provisioned with a home nestbox for shelter. Animals were tested in each assay at three ages, beginning at weaning. Principal components analysis on each assay identified an axis of activity level in both tests, boldness and reactivity in the tunnel maze, and nestbox orientation in the open field. All traits were moderately (7–18%) heritable. Individual activity level was the most reliably consistent trait, both within and between tests. Tunnel maze boldness, tunnel maze reactivity, and open field nestbox orientation did not correlate at any age. Correlation between boldness and activity changes from positive to negative as animals age, while reactivity was consistently negatively associated with activity. A negative correlation emerged in adults between open field activity and nestbox orientation. These results suggest that either development or habituation results in different personality trait associations in an individual over time. Individual temperament traits such as general activity level may be quite stable, but caution should be used in generalizing single assays to represent boldness across time and across contexts.
An Experimental Study of Chick Provisioning in the Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker
Authors: Koenig Walter D. , Walters Eric L. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractAcorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) are cooperative breeders in which groups consist of a variable number of cobreeding males, joint‐nesting females, and non‐breeding helpers of both sexes that are offspring from prior nests. We temporarily manipulated brood size of nests to determine the feeding response of birds in relation to their status (breeder or non‐breeding helper) and sex. All categories of birds responded similarly to brood size increases, adjusting their feeding rate upwards so as to maintain approximately the same per‐nestling feeding rate. Breeders, however, exhibited more flexibility with respect to brood size reductions, decreasing their feeding rate while helpers did not. This suggests that the ‘feeding rules’ of helpers are less flexible than those of breeders, a result not previously detected in other cooperative breeders that have been studied to date. Particularly surprising was the finding that helpers maintain their feeding rates when brood demand is decreased rather than when it was increased, suggesting that the flexibility they exhibit is not a result of birds using the opportunity afforded by reduced brood demand to engage in other less cooperative activities.
Less Chlorophyll Does not Necessarily Restrain Light Capture Ability and Photosynthesis in a Chlorophyll‐Deficient Rice Mutant
Authors: Li Y. , Ren B. , Gao L. , Ding L. , Jiang D. , Xu X. , Shen Q. , Guo S. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractA chlorophyll‐deficient rice mutant, yellow‐green leaf 1 (ygl1), with a photosynthetic rate similar to that of wild type (Oryza sativa L., cv. Zhenhui 249 China) is presented in this study. Forty percent of the chlorophyll in the mutant captured 70 % of the light in photosystem II (PSII) compared with wild type. The 30 % decreased light in the mutant was compensated for by a relatively higher quantum yield of PSII, which conferred a total electron transport rate (JT) equal to that in wild type. More photons were absorbed by wild type and exhausted through thermal dissipation. Gene expression analysis of the thylakoid membrane showed that the chlorophyll deficiency in the mutant did not impair the electron transport chain. To determine why the photosynthetic rate was similar between the chlorophyll‐deficient mutant and wild type, the leaf nitrogen (N) and Rubisco contents, stomatal and mesophyll CO2 conductance, and chloroplast development were investigated. Our results indicate that the chlorophyll deficiency in the mutant had no negative impact on the chloroplast development in terms of size and grana stacking; moreover, the chloroplastic CO2 concentration and Rubisco content were comparable to those in wild type. We conclude that the light‐capturing ability of normal rice plants is not fully utilized and that absorbed light in the chlorophyll‐deficient mutant is more efficient in participating photosynthesis.
Detection and Identification of 16SrII Group Phytoplasmas Infecting Stylosanthes in China
Authors: Che Haiyan , Li Zhengnan , Zhang Lei , Wu Yunfeng , Luo Daquan 
Published: May 2012

AbstractIn July 2008, Stylosanthes guianensis with witches’‐broom symptoms and Stylosanthes capitata with yellows symptoms were observed in Hainan Province, China. From the symptomatic S. guianensis, the phytoplasma‐specific 16S rRNA gene fragment of 1.4 kb was amplified by a direct PCR, and a fragment of 16S rRNA gene of 1.2 kb was obtained from the symptomatic Stylosanthes capitata by a nested PCR. Sequencing results and NCBI BLASTn analysis showed that the two phytoplasmas belonged to group 16SrII. Polygenetic analysis and virtual RFLP classified the two phytoplasmas into subgroup 16SrII‐A.
Nomograms to predict the pathological stage of clinically localized prostate cancer in Korean men: Comparison with Western predictive tools using decision curve analysis
Authors: Jeong Chang Wook , Jeong Seong Jin , Hong Sung Kyu , Lee Seung Bae , Ku Ja Hyeon , Byun Seok‐Soo , Jeong Hyeon , Kwak Cheol , Kim Hyeon Hoe , Lee Eunsik , Lee Sang Eun 
Published: May 2012

Objectives:  To develop and evaluate nomograms to predict the pathological stage of clinically localized prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in Korean men.Methods:  We reviewed the medical records of 2041 patients who had clinical stages T1c–T3a prostate cancer and were treated solely with radical prostatectomy at two hospitals. Logistic regressions were carried out to predict organ‐confined disease, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and lymph node metastasis using preoperative variables and resulting nomograms. Internal validations were assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration plot, and then external validations were carried out on 129 patients from another hospital. Head‐to‐head comparisons with 2007 Partin tables and Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment score were carried out using the area under the curve and decision curve analysis.Results:  The significant predictors for organ‐confined disease and extraprostatic extension were clinical stage, prostate‐specific antigen, Gleason score and a percent positive core of biopsy. Significant predictors for seminal vesicle invasion were prostate‐specific antigen, Gleason score and percent positive core, and those for lymph node metastasis were prostate‐specific antigen and percent positive core. The area under the curve of established nomograms for organ‐confined disease, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion and lymph node metastasis were 0.809, 0.804, 0.889 and 0.838, respectively. The nomograms were well calibrated and externally validated. These nomograms showed significantly higher accuracies and net benefits than two Western tools in Korean men.Conclusion:  This is the first study to have developed and fully validated nomograms to predict the pathological stage of prostate cancer in an Asian population. These nomograms might be more accurate and useful for Korean men than other predictive models developed using Western populations.
Importance of matrix permeability and quantity of core habitat for persistence of a threatened saltmarsh bird
Authors: ASHCROFT MICHAEL B. , MAJOR RICHARD E. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractSpecies habitat preferences can be obscured when individuals have been recorded in non‐core habitats because of dispersal, spillover effects or spatial errors in observation locations. Disentangling the direct effects of the habitats species are observed in from the effects of proximity to other nearby habitats is especially challenging in fragmented landscapes, as many fragmentation metrics are correlated and it is difficult to prove independent effects. In this paper we addressed this issue by comparing a number of models based on predefined ecological theories. We compared models based on quantity of core habitat surrounding observations, proximity to core habitat, or a combination of the two to explain the observed distribution of the saltmarsh inhabiting white‐fronted chat (Epthianura albifrons) in coastal New South Wales, Australia. Proximity to core habitat was considered as either Euclidean distance or cost distance, and models were assessed using Akaike's information criterion and the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve on 10 random subsets of the data. We found that all models performed similarly, with the combination of cost distance and the quantity of saltmarsh performing better, but not significantly so. We compared the advantages and disadvantages of different models and also present a model averaged result. Our models suggested that the majority of saltmarshes in New South Wales were too small to have a large effect on probability of occurrence. As climate change is expected to further reduce the amount of available saltmarsh through continued mangrove incursion, coastal populations of the white‐fronted chat are expected to come under increasing threat. The conversion of grasslands to urban areas may also increase the effective distance between different populations of the species and reduce gene flow and rescue effects.
Sentence repetition in children with specific language impairment: an investigation of underlying mechanisms
Authors: Riches Nick G. 
Published: May 2012

Abstract Background: Sentence repetition (SR) is a reliable clinical marker of specific language impairment (SLI). However, little is known about cognitive processes underpinning SR, or areas of breakdown in children with SLI.Aims: The study investigated which cognitive mechanisms were most closely involved in SR performance: syntactic knowledge, phonological short‐term memory (STM) and working memory (WM).Methods & Procedures: Twenty‐three children with SLI (mean age = 6;7), 18 age‐matched (mean age = 6;5) and 21 language‐matched children (mean age = 4;8) repeated 180 sentences of varying length and complexity. Total words omitted, added or substituted were counted. Assessments of syntactic knowledge using a structural priming task, and assessments of WM, and phonological STM, were conducted. Twenty sentences were presented in a delayed repetition condition to investigate the role of phonological STM.Outcomes & Results: The children with SLI made more SR errors than controls and found delayed repetition especially difficult. Their SR errors were qualitatively similar to errors on other production tasks. In the SLI group, all assessments were good predictors, though the priming task was the strongest. In the control groups WM tasks were the best predictors, but the phonological STM task was a poor predictor.Conclusions & Implications: The data support a multifaceted view of SR with a role for syntactic knowledge, WM and STM. ‘Redintegration’, whereby long‐term memory representations are used to maintain information in short‐term memory, is likely to be a key process. Specific errors in the SLI group are likely to reflect difficulties with underlying syntactic representations. Children with SLI may be more dependent on phonological STM than typically developing children.
Formerly known as inhibitory: effects of 1‐Hz rTMS on auditory cortex are state‐dependent
Authors: Weisz Nathan , Steidle Laura , Lorenz Isabel 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe major repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) paradigm applied to the treatment of tinnitus has been the 1‐Hz variant due to its alleged inhibitory effects. Clinical effects have, however, been hampered by great interindividual variability as well as the fact that TMS includes no explicit mechanism to modulate excitability in circumscribed regions of tonotopically organised auditory fields. Following studies showing that the effect of TMS depends on the activational state preceding the stimulation, participants were exposed to 10 min of either notch‐ or bandpass‐filtered noise prior to 1‐Hz rTMS applied to the left auditory cortex. A control group was additionally assessed using bandpass noise – albeit with subsequent sham stimulation – to assess whether effects were due to the differential sounds alone or to a genuine interaction between sound and rTMS. Electroencephalogram was recorded from 128 electrodes before and after the experimental treatment while participants performed an auditory intensity discrimination task. While state‐dependency effects from the behavioural data are not conclusive, several condition × (sound) frequency effects (some specific to the stimulated side) could be observed. Importantly, many of these could not be explained by the use of rTMS or the filtered noise alone. The resulting patterns are, however, complex and temporally variable, which currently prohibits recommendations on how to design a clinically effective approach to treat tinnitus. Nevertheless, our study gives the first evidence that state‐dependency principles can induce sound frequency‐specific effects in the auditory cortex, providing a crucial proof‐of‐principle upon which future studies can build.
Inhibitory effects of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor, tadalafil, on mechanosensitive bladder afferent nerve activities of the rat, and on acrolein‐induced hyperactivity of these nerves
Authors: Minagawa Tomonori , Aizawa Naoki , Igawa Yasuhiko , Wyndaele Jean‐Jacques 
Published: May 2012

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?Tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, might be effective for not only erectile dysfunction but also lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).One of the mechanisms of tadalafil on LUTS is added in the study.OBJECTIVE
To determine if tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, decreases afferent nerve activity from the bladder with and without chemical stimulation by intravesical acrolein instillation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Female Sprague‐Dawley rats were used. Under urethane anaesthesia, single afferent fibres of the nerve primarily originating from the bladder were identified by electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve and by bladder distension, and classified by conduction velocity as Aδ‐ or C‐fibres. After measuring the baseline single afferent activities (SAA) during constant filling, two experiments were performed.
First, tadalafil was administrated intravenously (i.v.) at three doses, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg cumulatively and SAA were repeatedly studied after each administration.
Second, in the presence of vehicle or tadalafil (0.1 mg/kg) i.v., the effect of intravesical instillation of acrolein (0.003%) was studied.
RESULTS
In all, 39 single units were isolated (Aδ‐fibres 21; C‐fibres, 18) in 25 rats.
Tadalafil dose‐dependently decreased SAA of both Aδ‐ and C‐fibres during saline instillation. Intravesical acrolein facilitated SAA of both fibres after vehicle administration.
Pretreatment with tadalafil significantly inhibited the acrolein‐induced hyperactivity of both fibres.
CONCLUSION
Our study shows, using selective unifibre potential measurement, that systemic administration of tadalafil reduces mechanosensitive afferent activities of both Aδ‐ and C‐fibres elicited by bladder distension in the rat, and also that tadalafil has an inhibitory effect on the increased activities of both fibres induced by intravesical acrolein instillation.
Belief attribution in deaf and hearing infants
Authors: Meristo Marek , Morgan Gary , Geraci Alessandra , Iozzi Laura , Hjelmquist Erland , Surian Luca , Siegal Michael 
Published: May 2012

AbstractBased on anticipatory looking and reactions to violations of expected events, infants have been credited with ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) knowledge that a person’s search behaviour for an object will be guided by true or false beliefs about the object’s location. However, little is known about the preconditions for looking patterns consistent with belief attribution in infants. In this study, we compared the performance of 17‐ to 26‐month‐olds on anticipatory looking in ToM tasks. The infants were either hearing or were deaf from hearing families and thus delayed in communicative experience gained from access to language and conversational input. Hearing infants significantly outperformed their deaf counterparts in anticipating the search actions of a cartoon character that held a false belief about a target‐object location. By contrast, the performance of the two groups in a true belief condition did not differ significantly. These findings suggest for the first time that access to language and conversational input contributes to early ToM reasoning.