bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Temporal and Spatial Expression of Tumor‐Associated Antigen RCAS1 in Pregnant Mouse Uterus
Authors: Tskitishvili Ekaterine , Nakamura Hitomi , Kinugasa‐Taniguchi Yukiko , Kanagawa Takeshi , Kimura Tadashi , Tomimatsu Takuji , Shimoya Koichiro 
Published: December 2009

Citation Tskitishvili E, Nakamura H, Kinugasa‐Taniguchi Y, Kanagawa T, Kimura T, Tomimatsu T, Shimoya K. Temporal and spatial expression of tumor‐associated antigen RCAS1 in pregnant mouse uterus. Am J Reprod Immunol 2010; 63: 137–143Problem  The tumor‐associated antigen RCAS1 (receptor‐binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells) is considered to play a role in the inhibition of maternal immune response during pregnancy, and participates in the initiation of labor and placental detachment. The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of RCAS1 protein in the uteri of normal pregnant mice.Method of study  Uteri with fetuses were collected from pregnant ICR mice on days 1.5, 3.5, 5.5, 7.5, and 9.5 p.c., and uterine and placental tissues were obtained separately on days 11.5, 13.5, 15.5, and 17.5 p.c. Samples were examined using real‐time (RT)‐PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical analyses.Results  In normal pregnant mice, RCAS1 protein mRNA was significantly increased on day 7.5 p.c. Antigen localization was detected in the placenta, decidua, and fetus.Conclusion  The results of this study suggest the importance of day 7.5 p.c. for RCAS1 protein expression in connection with placentation as a possible target for future in vivo studies.
THE INFLUENCE OF RIPENING TEMPERATURE ON THE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF REGGIANITO ARGENTINO CHEESE
Authors: SIHUFE GUILLERMO A. , ZORRILLA SUSANA E. , SABBAG NORA G. , COSTA SILVIA C. , RUBIOLO AMELIA C. 
Published: December 2009

ABSTRACT The effect of elevated ripening temperature on sensory characteristics of Reggianito Argentino cheese was evaluated. Cheeses ripened at 12 or 18C and 85% relative humidity were analyzed at 62, 123 and 186 days. The sensory characteristics of cheese samples were analyzed through a quantitative descriptive analysis carried out by a trained sensory panel. Although the attribute scores of cheeses ripened at 18C were different from those ripened at 12C, they did not result in atypical Reggianito sensory characteristics. Principal component analysis showed useful groupings resulting that Reggianito Argentino cheeses ripened at 18C during 62 days had similar sensory characteristics to cheeses ripened at 12C during 186 days. The results obtained not only are useful to characterize the ripening of a traditional Argentinean hard cheese, but also to evaluate the effect of an increase of ripening temperature on sensory characteristics of Reggianito Argentino cheese. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSElevated ripening temperatures offer the most effective, and certainly the simplest and cheapest, method for the accelerating ripening. However, considering the numerous complex biochemical reactions that occur duringripening, unbalanced flavor or off‐flavors may result. In this paper, the ripening of a traditional Argentinean hard cheese was characterized using sensory analysis. The effect of elevated ripening temperature on sensory characteristics in Reggianito Argentino cheese was also evaluated to study the possibility for accelerating its ripening.
Measuring the Contributions of Brand to Shareholder Value (and How to Maintain or Increase Them)
Authors: Gerzema John , Lebar Ed , Rivers Anne 
Published: December 2009

Since 1993 Young & Rubicam has invested over $130 million in collecting and interpreting data on consumers' perceptions of some 44,000 product and service brands in over 50 countries. At the core of Y&R's research effort is the Brand‐Asset® Valuator (or “BAV”), a model that converts the firm's hoard of data on global consumer perceptions and behavior patterns into assessments of brand strength and value. When combined with the findings of independent research by academics in marketing and finance (using Compustat data on corporate operating and stock‐price performance), the BAV's assessments of brand values can be used to quantify the contributions of brands to both corporate earnings and market values.One of the main findings of this research is that brands contribute to the market value of companies by increasing not only current earnings, but the price‐to‐earnings (P/E) multiples that investors assign to current earnings. Such increases in P/E multiples in turn reflect investors' expectations for lower risk, higher growth or both.At the same time, more recent consumer surveys (conducted in 2005‐2007) provided indications of brand “erosion” even as the markets were pushing up share prices, presumably with the expectation that intangibles like brand would continue to drive operating earnings in the future. For the leaders of consumer‐related corporations, the resulting “disconnect” between stock prices and brand values points to a continuing challenge for brand management.Building brand value is important for both finance professionals trying to increase shareholder value and marketers trying to build brand strength and increase sales and margin. The aim of the authors' research is to bring these two groups—finance and marketing— closer together by demonstrating the role of marketing strategy and brand equity in driving shareholder value.
Using Corporate Inflation Protected Securities to Hedge Interest Rate Risk
Authors: Barney L. Dwayne , Harvey Keith D. 
Published: December 2009

In the first half of 2008, rising inflation became a concern, but by the fall the focus was on deflation. Such shifts in the outlook for inflation represent a significant risk for some companies, particularly those whose revenues and profits are negatively affected by increases in inflation and rates. For such companies, the use of long‐term fixed‐rate debt will provide at least a partial hedge against increased rates.Less widely appreciated is that even companies whose profits move up and down with inflation face considerable risk from fluctuations in interest rates. Conventional wisdom holds that floating‐rate debt hedges this risk. But this article argues that floating‐rate debt still leaves a company exposed to increases in real interest rates.Inflation‐sensitive companies such as utilities can use corporate inflation‐protected securities (CIPS) to hedge their real interest rate risk as well as inflation risk. In addition to its hedging benefits, CIPS also have the potential to reduce borrowing costs by satisfying growing investor demand for high‐quality securities that provide inflation protection (including demand sources like the recent restoration of French savings accounts to inflation).
The Gain‐Loss Spread: A New and Intuitive Measure of Risk
Authors: Estrada Javier 
Published: December 2009

The standard deviation, arguably the most widely‐used measure of risk, suffers from at least two limitations. First, the measure has little intuitive appeal (defined as it is by the square root of the average quadratic deviation from the arithmetic mean return). Second, investors tend to associate risk more with bad outcomes than with volatility per se.To overcome these limitations, this article introduces a new measure of risk, the gain‐loss spread (GLS), which takes into account the probability of a loss, the average size of the loss, and the average gain—all variables that investors consider relevant when assessing risk. The author presents evidence that the GLS is both highly correlated with the standard deviation—thus providing basically the same information about risk—and more correlated with mean returns than both the standard deviation and beta, thereby offering a tighter link between risk and return.
High Inflammatory Activity Related to the Number of Metabolic Syndrome Components
Authors: Kirilmaz Bahadir , Asgun Fatih , Alioglu Emin , Ercan Ertugrul , Tengiz Istemihan , Turk Ugur , Saygi Serkan , Özerkan Filiz 
Published: December 2009

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2010;12:136–144. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.It has been known that each component of the metabolic syndrome (MS) has an atherogenic potential and increases the risk of cardiovascular events. Therefore, patients who have MS are candidates for the development of atherosclerosis and accompanying complications. In this study, the authors assessed the levels of acute phase reactants as an indicator of inflammation in patients with MS. Twenty‐five patients with recently diagnosed MS and not treated before who had at least 3 of 5 diagnostic criteria of MS listed in the Third Report of the Adult Treatment Panel National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP‐ATP III) guidelines were included in the study. Twenty healthy patients constituted the control group. Inflammatory parameters were compared between the groups. There was no significant difference between the MS and control group with regard to age and sex. White blood cell count (/mm3), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), uric acid, interleukin (IL) 6, and fibrinogen levels were found to be significantly higher in the MS group. Number of MS components was strongly correlated with serum levels of hs‐CRP (r=0.688, P=.0001), IL‐6 (r=0.546, P=.0001), fibrinogen (r=0.551, P=.0001), uric acid (r=0.517, P=.0001), and leucocyte count (/mm3) (r=0.456, P=.002). Inflammation plays an important role in atherosclerotic complications, which is activated in MS. Increased number of MS components are strongly associated with elevated inflammatory and metabolic markers. Measurement of serum inflammatory parameters in patients with MS may be beneficial in detection and management of cardiovascular events and in the assessment of efficacy of treatment.
Serial Changes in Norepinephrine Kinetics Associated With Feeding Dogs a High‐Fat Diet
Authors: Rocchini Albert P. , Yang John Q. , Smith Marla J. , Supiano Mark A. 
Published: December 2009

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2010;12:117–124. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The role of increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in the pathogenesis of obesity hypertension and insulin resistance is controversial. Eight dogs were instrumented and fed a high‐fat diet (HFD) for 6 weeks. Dogs were evaluated for changes in weight, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and norepinephrine (NE) kinetics using a two‐compartment model. The HFD resulted in weight gain, hypertension, and insulin resistance. During the 6 weeks of the HFD, although plasma NE concentration trended toward increasing (P=.09), SNS, assessed by NE kinetic studies, significantly increased (P=.009). Within 1 week of starting the HFD, NE release into the extravascular compartment (NE2) increased from 3.44±0.59 μg/mL to 4.87±0.80 μg/mL (P<.01) and this increase was maintained over the next 5 weeks of the HFD (NE2 at week 6 was 4.66±0.97 μg/mL). In addition to the increased NE2 there was also a significant increase in NE clearance (P=.04). There were significant correlations between the increase in NE2 and both the development of insulin resistance and hypertension. This study supports the hypothesis that activation of the SNS plays a pivotal role in the metabolic and hemodynamic changes that occur with weight gain induced by HFD.
Relationship of Hypertension, Blood Pressure, and Blood Pressure Control With White Matter Abnormalities in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS)—MRI Trial
Authors: Kuller Lewis H. , Margolis Karen L. , Gaussoin Sarah A. , Bryan Nick R. , Kerwin Diana , Limacher Marian , Wassertheil‐Smoller Sylvia , Williamson Jeff , Robinson Jennifer G. ,   for the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study Research Group
Published: December 2009

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2010;12:203–212. ©2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.This paper evaluates the relationship of blood pressure (BP) levels at Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) baseline, treatment of hypertension, and white matter abnormalities among women in conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) and medroxyprogesterone acetate and CEE‐alone arms. The WHI Memory Study—Magnetic Resonance Imaging (WHIMS‐MRI) trial scanned 1424 participants. BP levels at baseline were significantly positively related to abnormal white matter lesion (WML) volumes. Participants treated for hypertension but who had BP ≥140/90 mm Hg had the greatest amount of WML volumes. Women with untreated BP ≥140/90 mm Hg had intermediate WML volumes. Abnormal WML volumes were related to hypertension in most areas of the brain and were greater in the frontal lobe than in the occipital, parietal, or temporal lobes. Level of BP at baseline was strongly related to amount of WML volumes. The results of the study reinforce the relationship of hypertension and BP control and white matter abnormalities in the brain. The evidence to date supports tight control of BP levels, especially beginning at younger and middle age as a possible and perhaps only way to prevent dementia.
Prevalence of Clinical and Ambulatory Hypertension in a Population of 65‐Year‐Olds: The PROOF Study
Authors: Gosse Philippe , Dauphinot Virginie , Roche Frederic , Pichot Vincent , Celle Sebastien , Barthelemy Jean‐Claude 
Published: December 2009

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2010;12:160–165. ©2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.There are few data on the prevalence of hypertension in European populations based on the ambulatory determination of blood pressure. The Prognostic Indicator of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events (PROOF) study provided an opportunity to examine this prevalence in a cohort of 955 patients (387 men and 588 women, all aged 65 years) selected from an electoral list. All patients benefited from measurement of blood pressure during consultation and by 24‐hour ambulatory determinations. In this population, 18% had treated hypertension, but 31% had a daytime systolic pressure >135 mm Hg. This proportion was even higher (46%) in patients whose fasting blood glucose was >1.1 g/L or >6.1 mmol/L. In the untreated population, 21% had unrecognized hypertension with daytime systolic pressure >135 mm Hg, with an even higher percentage (35%) in the hyperglycemic patients. This study shows a significant proportion of hypertensive patients, whether treated or not, with high ambulatory blood pressure, especially in those with hyperglycemia who have a higher risk of complications.
Higher Levels of Alanine Aminotransferase Within the Reference Range Predict Unhealthy Metabolic Phenotypes of Obesity in Normoglycemic First‐Degree Relatives of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Mojiminiyi Olusegun A. , Abdella Nabila A. , Mohammedi Hisham Al 
Published: December 2009

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich).Obesity is a heterogeneous disorder with metabolically healthy and unhealthy phenotypes and varying degrees of cardiometabolic complications. To evaluate whether alanine aminotransferase (ALT) could be used for identification of obese phenotypes, the authors measured ALT, adiponectin, leptin, leptin receptor, free leptin index, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, fasting insulin, glucose, and full lipid profile in 486 (176 men and 310 women) normoglycemic first‐degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with negative medication history and hepatitis screen. Patients were classified into obesity phenotypes on the basis of the degree of adiposity and the International Diabetes Federation criteria for the metabolic syndrome. One hundred and thirty‐seven (28%) patients were positive for the metabolic syndrome, 32 (7%) had normal weight but metabolically unhealthy phenotype, and 201 (41%) were obese but metabolically healthy. ALT showed significant positive correlations with body mass index, waist circumference, beta‐cell function, insulin, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, total cholesterol, and triglycerides and increased with increasing number of metabolic syndrome components. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that higher ALT levels within the normal range were significantly associated with the metabolic syndrome. ALT could be used for identification of the metabolically obese phenotype. Lowering the ALT upper normal reference limit will facilitate earlier detection of risky phenotypes of obesity.
pedantics: an r package for pedigree‐based genetic simulation and pedigree manipulation, characterization and viewing
Authors: MORRISSEY MICHAEL B. , WILSON ALASTAIR J. 
Published: December 2009

AbstractAnalyses of pedigrees and pedigree‐derived parameters (e.g. relatedness and fitness) provide some of the most informative types of studies in evolutionary biology. The r package pedantics implements tools to facilitate power and sensitivity analyses of pedigree‐related studies of natural populations. Functions are available to permute pedigree data in various ways with the goal of mimicking patterns of pedigree errors and missingness that occur in studies of natural populations. Another set of functions simulates genetic and phenotypic data based on arbitrary pedigrees. Finally, functions are also available with which visual and numerical representations of pedigree structure can be generated.
60 YEARS OF BROKEN SYMMETRIES IN QUANTUM PHYSICS: FROM THE BOGOLIUBOV THEORY OF SUPERFLUIDITY TO THE STANDARD MODEL
Authors: SHIRKOV DMITRY V. 
Published: December 2009

A retrospective historical overview of the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in quantum theory, the issue that has been implemented in particle physics in the form of the Higgs mechanism. The main items are: – The Bogoliubov's microscopical theory of superfluidity (1946); – The BCS-Bogoliubov theory of superconductivity (1957); – Superconductivity as a superfluidity of Cooper pairs (Bogoliubov - 1958); – Transfer of the SSB into the QFT models (early 60s); – The Higgs model triumph in the electro-weak theory (early 80s). The role of the Higgs mechanism and its status in the current Standard Model is also touched upon. Note from Publisher: This article contains the abstract only.
Prediction of Survival following First-Line Chemotherapy in Men with Castration-Resistant Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Authors: Armstrong Andrew J. , Garrett-Mayer Elizabeth , de Wit Ronald , Tannock Ian , Eisenberger Mario 
Published: December 2009

Abstract
Purpose: We sought to evaluate predictors of overall survival following progression after systemic chemotherapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Experimental Design: For our study population, we used the TAX327 multicenter randomized phase III trial comparing administration of docetaxel and prednisone every 3 weeks, weekly administration of docetaxel and prednisone, and administration of mitoxantrone and prednisone every 3 weeks. Progression was defined as the earliest of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), tumor, or pain progression. We analyzed predictors of postprogression survival according to both prechemotherapy and postchemotherapy variables with adjustment for potential confounders.
Results: Among 1,006 men, 640 had evaluable information on protocol-defined progression leading to further therapy. Median postprogression survival was 14.5 months. In the multivariable analysis, several pretreatment factors were associated with postprogression survival: pain, performance status, alkaline phosphatase, number of sites of metastatic disease, liver metastases, hemoglobin, PSA, and time since diagnosis. In addition, we found that the number of progression factors (PSA, pain, and tumor size), the duration of first-line chemotherapy, and whether progression occurred during chemotherapy independently predicted postprogression survival. We found evidence for the benefit of continuation of chemotherapy beyond progression only for men who had isolated worsening of pain. A nomogram was constructed and internally validated with a concordance index of 0.70.
Conclusions: An internally validated model to predict postchemotherapy survival was developed. Evaluation of men in the postdocetaxel setting should consider the type of progression, duration of therapy, and known pretreatment prognostic factors. Definitions of progression in castration-resistant prostate cancer that include pain should also consider composite measures of tumor or PSA progression. External validation is planned. Clin Cancer Res; 16(1); 203–11
LOX-1 as a natural IFN-α–mediated signal for apoptotic cell uptake and antigen presentation in dendritic cells
Authors: Parlato Stefania , Romagnoli Giulia , Spadaro Francesca , Canini Irene , Sirabella Paolo , Borghi Paola , Ramoni Carlo , Filesi Ilaria , Biocca Silvia , Gabriele Lucia , Belardelli Filippo 
Published: December 2009

AbstractThe identification of molecules responsible for apoptotic cell (AC) uptake by dendritic cells (DCs) and induction of T-cell immunity against AC-associated antigens is a challenge in immunology. DCs differentiated in the presence of interferon-α (IFN-α–conditioned DCs) exhibit a marked phagocytic activity and a special attitude in inducing CD8+ T-cell response. In this study, we found marked overexpression of the scavenger receptor oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX-1) in IFN-α–conditioned DCs, which was associated with increased levels of genes belonging to immune response families and high competence in inducing T-cell immunity against antigens derived from allogeneic apoptotic lymphocytes. In particular, the capture of ACs by IFN-α DCs led to a substantial subcellular rearrangement of major histocompatibility complex class I and class II molecules, along with enhanced cross-priming of autologous CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T-cell activation. Remarkably, AC uptake, CD8+ T-cell cross-priming, and, to a lesser extent, priming of CD4+ T lymphocytes were inhibited by a neutralizing antibody to the scavenger receptor LOX-1 protein. These results unravel a novel LOX-1–dependent pathway by which IFN-α can, under both physiologic and pathologic conditions, render DCs fully competent for presenting AC-associated antigens for cross-priming CD8+ effector T cells, concomitantly with CD4+ T helper cell activation.
Prediction of protein-protein interaction sites using an ensemble method
Authors: Deng Lei , Guan Jihong , Dong Qiwen , Zhou Shuigeng 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Prediction of protein-protein interaction sites is one of the most challenging and intriguing problems in the field of computational biology. Although much progress has been achieved by using various machine learning methods and a variety of available features, the problem is still far from being solved.

Results
In this paper, an ensemble method is proposed, which combines bootstrap resampling technique, SVM-based fusion classifiers and weighted voting strategy, to overcome the imbalanced problem and effectively utilize a wide variety of features. We evaluate the ensemble classifier using a dataset extracted from 99 polypeptide chains with 10-fold cross validation, and get a AUC score of 0.86, with a sensitivity of 0.76 and a specificity of 0.78, which are better than that of the existing methods. To improve the usefulness of the proposed method, two special ensemble classifiers are designed to handle the cases of missing homologues and structural information respectively, and the performance is still encouraging. The robustness of the ensemble method is also evaluated by effectively classifying interaction sites from surface residues as well as from all residues in proteins. Moreover, we demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method to identify interaction sites from the non-structural proteins (NS) of the influenza A virus, which may be utilized as potential drug target sites.

Conclusion
Our experimental results show that the ensemble classifiers are quite effective in predicting protein interaction sites. The Sub-EnClassifiers with resampling technique can alleviate the imbalanced problem and the combination of Sub-EnClassifiers with a wide variety of feature groups can significantly improve prediction performance.