bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nanoimaging for protein misfolding diseases
Authors: Lyubchenko Yuri L. , Kim Bo‐Hyun , Krasnoslobodtsev Alexey V. , Yu Junping 
Published: July 2010

AbstractMisfolding and aggregation of proteins are widespread phenomena leading to the development of numerous neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. Each of these diseases is linked to structural misfolding and aggregation of a particular protein. The aggregated forms of the protein induce the development of a particular disease at all levels, leading to neuronal dysfunction and loss. Because protein refolding is frequently accompanied by transient association of partially folded intermediates, the propensity to aggregate is considered a general characteristic of the majority of proteins. X‐ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy have provided important information on the structure of aggregates. However, fundamental questions, such as why the misfolded conformation of the protein is formed, and why this state is important for self‐assembly, remain unanswered. Although it is well known that the same protein under pathological conditions can lead to the formation of aggregates with diverse biological consequences, the conditions leading to misfolding and the formation of the disease prone complexes are unclear, complicating any development of efficient prevention of the diseases. Misfolded states exist transiently, so answering these questions requires the use of novel approaches and methods. Progress has been made during the past few years, when recently developed ensemble methods and single‐molecule biophysics techniques were applied to the problem of the protein misfolding. In this review, the impacts of these studies on the understanding of the mechanisms of the protein self‐assembly into aggregates and on the development of treatments of the diseases are discussed. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2010 2 526–543This article is categorized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Neurological Disease
Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology
Did we miss some evidence of chaos in laboratory insect populations?
Authors: Ma Zhanshan (Sam) 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe collection and documentation of the experimental evidence of chaos in biological populations have always been elusive. We were puzzled by the observation that the most frequently computed demographic parameter for laboratory insect populations, the population intrinsic rate of increase (rm), seems too small to induce chaotic dynamics. For example, when it is directly utilized as an approximation to the parameter (a) of the one‐parameter discrete logistic model, the parameter seems well out of the chaotic range. In a recent reanalysis of our early laboratory demographic data of 1800 Russian wheat aphids (RWA), we discovered that a proper measure unit conversion should be performed to make the link betweenrmand the discrete logistic model. We think that this conversion issue may have been ignored historically in biological literature since we are not aware of any uses of thermin the discussion of chaos. It should be noted thatrmis different from therin discrete logistic model (e.g., May in Nature 261:459–467,1976). Since extensive demographic data purported to estimatermhave been accumulated in literature on population growth, the finding revealed with our RWA experiment data can easily be verified with the published data in literature. We near‐arbitrarily surveyed 10 studies (containing 37 datasets ofrm) published in the literature and archived in JSTOR or BioOne databases to test the conversion, and the results confirmed our finding. The finding should significantly expand the evidence base of chaos in laboratory populations of insects and possibly microorganisms, too.
Reliable management of checkpointing and application data in opportunistic grids
Authors: de Camargo Raphael Y. , Castor Fernando , Kon Fabio 
Published: July 2010

Abstract
Opportunistic computational grids use idle processor cycles from shared machines to enable the execution of long-running parallel applications. Besides computational power, these applications may also consume and generate large amounts of data, requiring an efficient data storage and management infrastructure. In this article, we present an integrated middleware infrastructure that enables the use of not only idle processor cycles, but also unused disk space of shared machines. Our middleware enables the reliable distributed storage of application data in the shared machines in a redundant and fault-tolerant way. A checkpointing-based mechanism monitors the execution of parallel applications, saves periodical checkpoints in the shared machines, and in case of node failures, supports the application migration across heterogeneous grid nodes. We evaluate the feasibility of our middleware using experiments and simulations. Our evaluation shows that the proposed middleware promotes important improvements in grid data management reliability while imposing a low performance overhead.
Venous Thromboembolic Events in the Rehabilitation Setting
Authors: Kelly Brian M. , Yoder Brian M. , Tang Chi‐Tsai , Wakefield Thomas W. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractVenous thromboembolism (VTE) is a disease entity that encompasses both deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. During the past decade there have been significant advances in the understanding of prophylaxis and treatment of VTE. There is an extensive research base from which conclusions can be drawn, but the heterogeneity within the rehabilitation patient population makes the development of rigid VTE protocols challenging and overwhelming for the busy clinician. Given the prevalence of this condition and its associated morbidity and mortality, we review the evidence for the prevention, identification, and optimal treatment of VTE in the rehabilitation population. Our goal is to highlight studies that have the most clinical applicability for the care of VTE patients from a physiatrist's perspective. At times, information about acute care protocols is included in our discussion because these situations are encountered during the consultation process that identifies patients for rehabilitation needs.
A participatory approach to the evaluation of the efficiency of animal recording practices based on institutional analysis and development framework
Authors: WASIKE C. B. , KAHI A. K. , PETERS K. J. 
Published: July 2010

SUMMARYAnimal recording is an interactive process that involves several practices. The efficiency of the process is essential to ensure the utility of outcomes necessary for sustainable participation. Most evaluation approaches define efficiency in economic terms. Animal recording systems lack outputs of direct economic benefits; hence, efficiency evaluation based on utility derived from the records would be more laudable. In that case, a system is considered efficient when outcome-utility-dependent participation is sustained. Approaches for evaluating efficiency based on the utility of outputs are, however, unavailable. The current study presents an approach for evaluating the efficiency of animal recording based on output utility using the institutional analysis and development framework. The approach evaluates efficiency by incorporating institutional issues influencing the operations of the system and its outcomes. It considers animal recording as an action arena with various actors in three action situations, namely: animal identification and registration, pedigree and performance recording and animal evaluation and information utilization. The variables include the positions occupied by actors, their actions, the outcomes associated with the actions, the level of control over choice, available information and the cost and benefits of engagement. As an interactive process, animal recording has rules that order relationships between actors. It also exists within a biophysical system and community whose attributes, combined with the rules, influence the actions and outcomes of recording. These are evaluated by looking at rule formation structures, enforcement and compliance and the level of interaction between the recording system and other biophysical characteristics and the community for their effects on outcomes, their utility and sustainability of recording. Participatory tools, Stakeholder matrix and Venn diagrams are used to identify the variables, quantify their interactions and link them to outputs. The applicability of the approach is tested using a case where information systems are imperfect. The approach successfully identifies missing actors within the action arena, poor rule conformance due to weak enforcement agencies and the absence of rules that govern outcomes and ensure the utility of outcomes as hindrances to the utility of recording and hence the efficiency of the system. It may therefore be used to evaluate the efficiency of systems whose outputs do not have a direct market value and in situations where quantitative market information is scarce.
Defining ‘gratuitous evil’: a response to Alan R. Rhoda
Authors: HASKER WILLIAM 
Published: July 2010

AbstractIn his article, ‘Gratuitous evil and divine providence’, Alan Rhoda claims to have produced an uncontroversial theological premise for the evidential argument from evil. I argue that his premise is by no means uncontroversial among theists, and I doubt that any premise can be found that is both uncontroversial and useful for the argument from evil.
A review of stroke outcome measures valid and reliable for administration by postal survey
Authors: Teale Elizabeth A , Young John B 
Published: July 2010

SummaryCollecting outcome measures by patient or proxy-completed postal survey in stroke research offers a pragmatic and cost-effective alternative to interview-based assessments. The psychometric properties of outcome measures cannot be assumed to be equivalent across methods of questionnaire administration. Many stroke outcome measures have variable or unproven psychometric properties when administered by post. The validity of stroke research that uses postal surveys may be improved through the adoption of questionnaires with acceptable postal psychometric properties. This review identifies 60 reports of quantitative stroke studies using one or more of 36 instruments to collect stroke outcome data by postal survey. Three of these instruments have acceptable psychometric properties for postal administration in stroke populations (the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), Subjective Index of Physical and Social Outcome (SIPSO) and the EuroQoL (EQ5D)). Two further instruments lack evidence to support proxy reliability (Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living and London Handicap Score), but have otherwise acceptable properties.
CD4+ T cell-mediated fatal hyperinflammatory reactions in mice infected with Penicillium marneffei
Authors: KUDEKEN N , KAWAKAMI K , SAITO A 
Published: July 2010

SUMMARY
In the present study, we demonstrate that all mice survived when a low dose of Penicillium marneffei was instilled intratracheally, while severe infection induced by instillation of 1 ×108 and 1 ×107 colony-forming units (CFU) killed all and 50% of mice, respectively, within 14 days, although the number of live microorganisms in the lungs of these animals was found to decrease with time. The cellular inflammatory responses in the lungs were much more striking in mice with severe infection than in animals infected with a low dose of microorganisms. The number of leucocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and lymphocytes in the lungs increased progressively during infection, and were more than 50 times higher on day 11 than in the control count. CD4+ T cells were the predominant cells in the lungs, and played an important role in hyperinflammatory host reactions, because neutralizing anti-CD4 MoAb increased the survival rate in infected mice despite the presence of a high number of live microorganisms in the lungs. Our results indicate that severe infection with P. marneffei induces fatal hyperinflammatory host reactions, mediated to a large extent by CD4+ T cells, although the infection is well controlled. However, the contribution of endogenous tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) remains unsubstantiated, since administration of neutralizing anti-TNF-α MoAb in the present study failed to prolong survival in infected mice.
SOME EXPERIMENTS WITH ZIRCON AND ZIRCONIA REFRACTORIES*
Authors: Comstock George F. 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTThis is a record of the results of five years' research on refractory uses for a chemically purified grade of zircon and electrically fused zirconia of high purity. The products investigated included semi‐permanent foundry molds, refractory brick and cements, ladle nozzles, and crucibles. Electric firing and a small oil‐fired tunnel kiln are described. Sintered zircon grog was found superior to electrically fused grog. Zircon brick made with 50% grog, using 20% milled zircon for the permanent bond and fired at 1600OC for an hour, showed no firing shrinkage, very slight volume change, and high compressive strength at 1600°C. They were extremely resistant to spalling but did not resist basic slags or metallic oxides very well at high temperature. Zircon‐bonded magnesite brick were more refractory than ordinary magnesite, more resistant to spalling, and had about the same slag resistance as magnesite. Zirconia was more refractory than zircon and had better slag resistance. Lime‐bonded zirconia crucibles of good spalling resistance were made, but the cost was higher than that of zircon.
HIGH‐TEMPERATURE PREPARATION AND THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SODIUM ALUMINATE*
Authors: Kammermeyer K. , Peck Albert B. 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTCrystalline sodium aluminate was prepared by heating monomolecular and other mixtures of Na2CO3 and Al2O3 3H2O for varying periods to temperatures up to 1700°C.The constituents produced were identified by petrographic‐microscopic methods, and new optical data on sodium aluminate was obtained.Sodium aluminate was found to exist from temperatures below 1100 to above 1700°C, its melting point being above 1700°C.Small amounts of iron oxide aid the formation of sodium aluminate, especially at the lower temperatures.
Standardization of Factor VIII II. A BRITISH STANDARD FOR FACTOR VIII RELATED ANTIGEN
Authors: Kirkwood T. B. L. , Barrowcliffe T. W. 
Published: July 2010

Summary.A collaborative study on factor VIII related antigen (VIII R: Ag) has been carried out, involving 11 laboratories in the U.K. Samples of two different freeze‐dried plasmas were assayed against participants' own local standards by the Laurell electroimmunoassay method. There was reasonably good agreement on the relative potencies of the two freeze‐dried plasmas, but there were considerable differences in the VIII R: Ag content of the plasma pools used as local standards, with values ranging from 83% to 129% of the mean. All participants agreed on the need for a standard for VIII R: Ag, and that the unit be defined by the mean of the local standards. Accordingly, freeze‐dried plasma 66/355 was established as the 1st British Standard for factor VIII related antigen, with an assigned potency of 1.05 units per ampoule.
DNA Synthesis in Thymic‐Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
Authors: Piga A. , Ganeshaguru K. , Lee N. , Breatnach F. , Prentice H. G. , Hoffbrand A. V. 
Published: July 2010

Summary.Deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) concentrations were measured in bone marrow and peripheral blood leucocytes from seven patients with acute Thy‐lymphoblastic leukaemia (Thy‐ALL), 12 patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia and 15 patients with acute non‐T, non‐B lymphoblastic leukaemia (c‐ALL), and in thymocytes from patients with myasthenia gravis. Labelled thymidine and deoxycytidine incorporation into DNA was also studied.In Thy‐ALL, dNTP concentrations were markedly increased compared with those in the other acute leukaemias. The dNTP concentrations in thymocytes were, however, similar to those in Thy‐ALL. 3H‐nucleoside incorporation studies showed a marked difference in labelled deoxycytidine incorporation and particularly in the deoxycytidine/thymidine DNA labelling ratio between Thy‐ALL and the other cell types.We conclude that the pathways of DNA synthesis in Thy‐ALL blasts are different from those in the cells from other acute leukaemias and some but not all these differences may correspond to differences between normal cortical thymocytes and bone marrow cells.
Familial elevation of plasma histidine‐rich glycoprotein in a family with thrombophilia
Authors: Engesser L. , Kluft C. , Briët E. , Brommer E. J. P. 
Published: July 2010

SummaryA patient with spontaneous venous thrombotic events, myocardial infarction and a positive family history of thrombosis was investigated for underlying disorders of haemostasis. Abnormally high levels of histidine‐rich glycoprotein were found. No other abnormality known or suspected of increasing the risk for thrombosis was present.Elevated levels of histidine‐rich glycoprotein appeared to be present in four other members of the family over two generations suggesting a hereditary disorder. Further study on the relation of elevated histidine‐rich glycoprotein levels and thrombosis is indicated.
The 12.6 kilobase DNA deletion in Dutch β°‐thalassaemia
Authors: Gilman John G. 
Published: July 2010

SummaryThe Dutch β°‐thalassaemia has few clinical symptoms in homozygotes, elevated fetal haemoglobin (4–11%) in heterozygotes, and has a DNA deletion previously estimated as 10 kb which removes the β‐globin gene (Gilman et al, 1984). A DNA fragment containing the breakpoints of the Dutch β°‐thalassaemia deletion has now been cloned. Sequencing across the deletion junction region showed the 3’endpoint to be about 3 kb further 3’than originally thought, so that the deletion covers 12.6 kb. The 3’endpoint lies in a region of Kpn I (LI) repeated sequences, which is also the case for several other deletions. A six bp region of homology (AAATTT) between the 5’and 3’normal sequences at the breakpoint may have contributed to the non‐homologous recombination event that led to the Dutch β°‐thalassaemia deletion. The 12.6 kb Dutch β°‐thalassaemia deletion is now seen to be a member of a 12–13 kb size category of deletions which also includes two δβ‐thalassaemias.
Lymphoid cells and tissue mast cells of bone marrow lesions in systemic mastocytosis: a histological and immunohistological study
Authors: Horny Hans‐Peter , Kaiserling Edwin 
Published: July 2010

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) can be regarded as a tumorous proliferation of tissue mast cells (TMC) involving various organs, particularly the bone marrow. The infiltrates, however, are by no means composed exclusively of TMC, but also contain eosinophils and lymphocytes. The varying composition of the TMC infiltrates and the immunohistological characteristics of the lymphatic cells were the main subjects of investigation in this study.Three different types of bone marrow infiltrates could be identified: (1) A pure mastocytic infiltrate. (2) A mixed mastocytic/lymphocytic infiltrate. (3) A predominantly lymphocytic infiltrate containing loosely‐scattered TMC.The mixed mastocytic/lymphocytic infiltrate seems to be a unique finding confined to the bone marrow in cases of SM, and is not detected in this conformation in other tissue sites normally involved in SM (spleen, liver, lymph nodes and skin), nor in cases of malignant mastocytosis. The lymphoid cells could be identified immunohistologically as being an admixture of T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, while NK cells were virtually absent from the composite nodules. The TMC reacted strongly with antibodies (monoclonal or polyclonal) against vimentin, common leucocyte antigen, lysozyme, α1antichymotrypsin and α1‐antitrypsin, but were negative with a variety of other antibodies tested (UCHL1, MB1, Ki‐B3, Leu‐7, KL1, desmin, S‐100 protein, F VIII‐related antigen and chromogranin A).
Cytomegalovirus infection in leucocytes after bone marrow transplantation demonstrated by mRNA in situ hybridization
Authors: Link Hartmut , Battmer Karin , Stumme Carsten 
Published: July 2010

Summary. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in leucocytes after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was identified using a 35S‐labelled antisense RNA probe specific for CMV immediate early (IE) gene mRNA. 54 patients were examined regularly up to 14 weeks after BMT, 36 after allogeneic BMT and 18 after autologous BMT. Only mononuclear cells with monocyte morphology were CMV IE mRNA positive. The number of CMV positive leucocytes was higher after allogeneic BMT than after autologous BMT (P=0.006), and in patients with acute graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD) II‐IV than with GvHD 0‐I (P=0.06). In patients who later developed chronic GvHD, the mean value of CMV infected leucocytes during the first week after BMT was higher than in patients without chronic GvHD (P=0.034). Patients with symptomatic CMV infection had greater numbers of CMV infected leucocytes during the fourth and fifth week after BMT than patients without CMV disease, but the difference did not reach statistical significance.CMV infection of monocytes may be an important factor in the early onset of CMV infection and of GvHD.
A novel (288delC) mutation in exon 2 of GPIIb associated with type I Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
Authors: Tao Jianming , Arias‐Salgado Elena García , González‐Manchón Consuelo , Díaz‐Cremades Juan , Ayuso Matilde S. , Parrilla Roberto 
Published: July 2010

This work reports the molecular genetic analysis of two patients who suffer mucocutaneous haemorrhages, prolonged bleeding time and failure of platelets to aggregate, either spontaneously or in response to agonists. The absence of platelet surface glycoprotein (GP)IIb–IIIa complexes confirmed the clinical diagnosis of Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT). Polymerase chain reaction single‐strand conformation polymorphism (PCR‐SSCP) analysis of exon 2 of GPIIb showed polymorphic bands caused by the homozygous deletion of a cytosine at position 288 relative to the translation start site, causing a shifting of the reading frame and appearance of a premature termination codon. The heterozygous relatives showed a reduced platelet content of GPIIb–IIIa, and a correlation was found between the levels of GPIIb mRNA and surface expression of GPIIb–IIIa complexes. Unlike other mRNAs carrying a nonsense mutation, (288Cdel)GPIIb does not force alternative splicing of GPIIb mRNA. As expected, co‐transfection of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with cDNAs encoding GPIIIa and (288delC)GPIIb failed to enhance the surface exposure of GPIIIa. It is concluded that the (288delC)GPIIb mutation is responsible for the thrombasthenic phenotype of the patients. In addition, it has also been determined that heterodimerization of GPIIb–IIIa requires the integrity of exons 2 and 3 of GPIIb.
Differential cellular expression of the human MSH2 protein in normal and myelodysplastic haematopoiesis
Authors: Maeck Lienhard , Kohaus Petra , Haase Detlef , Hiddemann Wolfgang , Alves Frauke 
Published: July 2010

Loss of human MSH2 (hMSH2) protein might be involved in the multistep pathogenesis of haematological malignancies associated with genetic instability. Here, we examine cellular hMSH2 expression in bone marrow samples from 10 haematopoietically normal individuals in comparison with nine patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) [one refractory anaemia (RA), two RA with ringed sideroblasts (RARS), four RA with excess blasts (RAEB) and two RAEB in transformation (RAEB‐T)]. HMSH2 protein was predominantly expressed in myeloblasts and promyelocytes. Blast cells from three patients with RAEB and one with RAEB‐T displayed absent or very low hMSH2 expression. As no correlation between hMSH2 expression and chromosomal aberrations was observed, further genetic events seem to be required to induce karyotype instability.