bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Platelet activation and residual activation potential during storage of hyperconcentrated platelet products in two different platelet additive solutions
Authors: Vetlesen Annette , Mirlashari Mohammad Reza , Torsheim Inger Anne , Kjeldsen‐Kragh Jens 
Published: July 2010

BACKGROUND: To improve platelet (PLT) quality, hyperconcentrated PLT concentrates (hcPCs) were compared to standard PLT concentrates (stdPCs) in two different PLT additive solutions, T‐Sol and PAS‐27a. PAS‐27a differs from T‐Sol by containing glucose, phosphate, potassium, magnesium, and bicarbonate.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: PLTs were harvested by apheresis twice from 14 donors; each unit was divided into two. Four units from each donor were produced: hcPCs, 2000 × 109 per L in T‐Sol or PAS‐27a; and stdPCs, 1400 × 109 per L in 65 percent T‐Sol or PAS‐27a and 35 percent acid citrate dextrose–plasma. On Days 1 through 4, swirling was scored and PLT count, mean PLT volume, pH, blood gas, glucose, and lactate were measured. Expression of CD42a, CD62P, CD63, and PAC‐1 was analyzed by flow cytometry on resting PLTs and PLTs stimulated with thrombin receptor agonist peptide (TRAP).RESULTS: Glucose consumption and lactate production were significantly higher in hcPCs stored in PAS‐27a than in T‐Sol. Both stdPC and hcPC PLTs in T‐Sol expressed CD62P and PAC‐1 significantly higher than in PAS‐27a. Over time the T‐Sol hcPCs revealed highest expression of CD62P and CD63. A significantly higher capacity for up regulation of CD62P, CD63, and PAC‐1 upon TRAP stimulation was found for stdPCs and hcPCs in PAS‐27a compared to PLTs in T‐Sol. TRAP‐stimulated PLTs in stdPCs and hcPCs suspended in PAS‐27a showed significantly higher potential for down regulation of CD42a than the T‐Sol concentrates.CONCLUSIONS: PLTs appear better preserved in vitro in PAS‐27a than in T‐Sol, and this suggests that storage of hcPCs in PAS‐27a could be extended beyond 24 hours.
No evidence of a significantly increased risk of transfusion‐transmitted human immunodeficiency virus infection in Australia subsequent to implementing a 12‐month deferral for men who have had sex with men (CME)
Authors: Seed Clive R. , Kiely Philip , Law Mathew , Keller Anthony J. 
Published: July 2010

BACKGROUND: Male‐to‐male sex is the predominant route of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in Australia and since the early 1980s blood services in Australia have deferred donors for this practice for at least 5 years. This retrospective analysis assesses the impact on HIV prevalence of implementing an abridged 12‐month deferral for male‐to‐male sex.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The prevalence of HIV among blood donors for 5‐year periods before (Period 1) and after (Period 2) implementing the revised 12‐month deferral was compared. Using deidentified data from postdonation interviews with HIV‐positive donors the proportion disclosing male‐to‐male sex as a risk factor was compared for the two periods.RESULTS: Twenty‐four HIV‐positive donations were identified among 4,025,571 donations in Period 1 compared with 24 among 4,964,628 donations in Period 2 (p = 0.468). The proportion of HIV‐positive donors with male‐to‐male sex as a risk factor in Period 1 was 2 in 15 (13.3%), which was not significantly different from the proportion in Period 2, 5 in 16 (31.25%; p = 0.22). All five men who have sex with men risk HIV infections during Period 2 were from donors whose risk was within the 12‐month criterion for acceptability, who would have been deferred had they provided a complete history.CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that the implementation of the 12‐month deferral for male‐to‐male sex resulted in an increased recipient risk for HIV in Australia. The risk of noncompliance to the revised deferral rather than its duration appears to be the most important modifier of overall risk.
Induction of matrix metalloproteinase‐1 by small interfering RNA targeting connective tissue growth factor in dermal fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis
Authors: Ishibuchi Hirohisa , Abe Masatoshi , Yokoyama Yoko , Ishikawa Osamu 
Published: July 2010

Please cite this paper as: Induction of matrix metalloproteinase‐1 by small interfering RNA targeting connective tissue growth factor in dermal fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis. Experimental Dermatology 2010; 19: e111–e116.Abstract:  We aimed to evaluate the effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting CTGF on extracellular matrices (ECMs) metabolism in normal and SSc fibroblasts. Normal and SSc fibroblasts were transfected with CTGF‐specific siRNAs to silence CTGF synthesis. After silencing CTGF, production of type I collagen and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐1 by fibroblasts stimulated with TGF‐β was examined. Then quantitative analyses of protein production or mRNA expression of type I collagen, MMP‐1,‐2,‐9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)‐1 with TGF‐β stimulation were carried out. Furthermore, after silencing CTGF, proliferations of normal and SSc fibroblasts were investigated. CTGF‐specific siRNA significantly reduced CTGF production. The production of type I collagen was significantly reduced by CTGF silencing in normal fibroblasts. The CTGF silencing significantly increased the production of MMP‐1 and decreased the production of TIMP‐1 in SSc fibroblasts. The mRNA expression of MMP‐1 was increased in CTGF‐silenced SSc fibroblasts, but not in normal fibroblasts. There were no significant changes in the production or mRNA expression of other ECM‐related genes in normal and SSc fibroblasts. Fibroblast proliferations were suppressed by CTGF silencing in normal and SSc fibroblasts. Our data showed that MMP‐1 was increased by CTGF‐specific siRNA transfection only in SSc fibroblasts. RNAi targeting CTGF could be a novel therapeutic strategy for SSc.
Novel CDKN2A mutation detected in Spanish melanoma pedigree
Authors: De Torre Carlos , Martínez‐Escribano Jorge 
Published: July 2010

Please cite this paper as: Novel CDKN2A mutation detected in Spanish melanoma pedigree. Experimental Dermatology 2010; 19: e333–e335.Abstract:  We have examined alterations in the cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) and cyclin‐dependent kinase 4 (CDK4), major melanoma predisposing genes, in a Spanish melanoma‐prone population comprising 61 patients from 45 families. Using an extensive genetic analysis of these genes, including sequence analysis and multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification, we have found four different CDKN2A alterations in cases from seven melanoma kindred. Three of them are CDKN2A mutations previously described in the Mediterranean population (p.G101W, p.V59G and c.358delG) in addition to an undescribed deletion (p. M54del) which has been detected in a melanoma kindred. This codon deletion affects an essential residue in the interaction of p16INK4A with cdk6 and has not been reported in melanoma patients and other cancers.
Objective melanoma progression
Authors: Rubegni Pietro , Burroni Marco , Nami Niccolò , Cevenini Gabriele , Bono Riccardo , Sbano Paolo , Fimiani Michele 
Published: July 2010

Background/purpose: Many aspects of the natural history of malignant melanoma (MM) are still unclear, specifically its appearance at onset and particularly how it changes in time. The purpose of our study was to retrospectively determine objective changes in melanoma over a 3–24‐month observation period.Materials and methods: Our study was carried out in two Italian dermatology centers. Digital dermoscopy analyzers (DB‐Mips System) were used to retrospectively evaluate dermoscopic images of 59 MM (with no initial clinical aspects suggesting melanoma) under observation for 3–24 months. The analyzer evaluates 49 parameters grouped into four categories: geometries, colors, textures and islands of color. Multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to evaluate the statistical significance of the changes in the digital dermoscopy variables of melanomas.Results: Within‐lesion analysis indicated that melanomas increased in dimension (Area, Minimum, and Maximum Diameter), manifested greater disorganization of the internal components (Red, Green and Blue Multicomponent, Contrast, and Entropy) and increased in clusters of milky pink color (Light Red Area).Conclusion: Analysis of the parameters of our model and statistical analysis enabled us to interpret/identify the most significant factors of melanoma modification, providing quantitative insights into the natural history of this cutaneous malignancy.
Actions of cathepsins on troponin T during postmortem aging of porcine muscle
Authors: KITAMURA Shin‐ichi , KUDO Kazuyuki , CHIKUNI Koichi , WATANABE Itaru , NISHIMURA Toshihide 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTIn this study, we examined the contribution of the cathepsins (cathepsin D and crude cathepsins containing cathepsins B and L) to troponin T degradation during postmortem aging. The action of cathepsin D on troponin T was examined at various pHs (pH 4.0–6.5). The degradation of intact troponin T was observed at pH 4.0, but not observed at pH 5.5 and 6.5. As a result of the degradation of troponin T, the 30 kDa fragment was not generated in any pH condition. The action of the crude cathepsins on troponin T was also examined at various pHs (pH 4.0–6.5). The intact troponin T was degraded at pH 4.0 and the 30 kDa fragments were observed. These 30 kDa fragments disappeared during further incubation. On the other hand, at pH 5.5 and 6.5, the intact troponin T was degraded and the 30 kDa fragment was accumulated. These results suggested that the cathepsin D scarcely contributed to the degradation of troponin T during postmortem aging, but crude cathepsins containing cathepsins B and L were partially involved in the degradation of troponin T and the generation of 30 kDa fragments.
Analysis of some factors affecting fertility levels in a high‐producing dairy herd in south‐western Japan
Authors: YUSUF Muhammad , NAKAO Toshihiko , LONG Su T. , GAUTAM Gokarna 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTThe present study aimed to know whether all cows have been showing declining fertility or only a proportion of cows are attributed to the declining fertility, and to describe factors affecting the level of fertility. A total of 131 cows calved from February 2005 to December 2007 in a dairy herd were examined. Fourteen cows were excluded from the study because of early culling. Of the remaining 117 cows, 47 (40%) conceived within 115 days postpartum after 1–3 artificial insemination (AI) (normal fertility cows), 42 (36%) conceived after 115 days postpartum following 1–3 AI or were culled after 1–2 (sub‐fertility cows/culled), and 28 (24%) were inseminated more than three times without detectable genital tract abnormalities (repeat breeders). Calving to conception interval in the normal fertility group was 72 + 3 days, while in the sub‐fertility/culled and repeat breeding groups the intervals were 170 + 8 and 259 + 16 days, respectively. Endometritis was the risk factor for sub‐fertility/culled (odds ratio (OR) = 3.76). Prolonged luteal phase (OR = 4.08), delayed first ovulation (OR = 6.02), and delayed corpus luteum formation after AI (OR = 8.55) were the risk factors for repeat breeding. In conclusion, 60% cows showed reduced fertility in a herd, while the other 40% had normal fertility. Uterine infection and some ovarian disorders contributed to reduced fertility.
Development of novel SNP system for individual and pedigree control in a Japanese Black cattle population using whole‐genome genotyping assay
Authors: HARA Kazuhiro , KON Yukari , SASAZAKI Shinji , MUKAI Fumio , MANNEN Hideyuki 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTIndividual identification and parentage analysis using DNA markers are essential for assuring food identity and managing livestock population. The objective of this study was to develop a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel system for individual effective identification and parentage testing in a Japanese Black cattle population using BovineSNP50 BeadChip. On the basis of SNP frequencies, 60 unlinked informative SNPs were finally selected as candidate markers. The allelic frequencies for each SNP were estimated using additional individuals by PCR‐RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). A total of 87 SNP markers added in conjunction with previously developed 27 SNPs were evaluated to assess the utility of the test. The estimated identity power was 2.01 × 10−34. Parentage exclusion probabilities, when both suspected parents' genotypes were known and when only one suspected parent was genotyped, were estimated as 0.99999997 and 0.99998010, respectively. This developed SNP panel was quite powerful and could successfully exclude false sires with a probability of >0.9999 even if the dam's genotype information was not obtained. The SNP system would contribute to management of the beef industry in Japan.
Characterization of 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the red‐crowned crane (Grus japonensis), an endangered bird
Authors: ZOU Hongfei , DONG Haiyan , KONG Weiyao , MA Jianhua , LIU Jihong 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTRed‐crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) were classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but recently, their population has decreased dramatically. For the purpose of conserving this endangered species, 18 microsatellite markers were developed, including 12 newly isolated ones from a genomic library and 6 modified from another crane species. The markers were characterized in 26 red‐crowned cranes. As a result, these markers displayed 3–13 alleles, and the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.462 to 1.000 and from 0.483 to 0.884, respectively. The marker suite averaged 6.390 alleles per locus with an average polymorphic information content of 0.631. The combined exclusion probability (PE‐1) was 0.9985, and the combined exclusion probability (PE‐2) was 0.9999. Three of the 18 microsatellite loci presented significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (P < 0.05), likely due to sampling bias and unknown founder relatedness in a semi‐free population. Our results show that microsatellite loci can provide a standard protocol for genetic information in red‐crowned crane populations upon which strategies for effective conservation and management may be based.
HISTORY, MEASUREMENT, AND APPLICABILITY OF PERIODIC CHANGES IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Authors: Ravitz Leonard J. 
Published: July 2010

“Nature is neither so poverty‐stricken in her resources, nor so demoralized and ruffled in her spirit as to be driven to the undignified level of the irritated washerwoman impatiently shaking her finger at the playful children of the neighborhood, in order to get order into her community. The organization and stability of living things has its foundations too widely extended in the depths of inorganic nature to permit one to rest his biological philosophy on irreducible biological or psychological categories.”1“Indeed every field of human interest in which significant variables (variables of state) have not been discovered is for that very reason complex and intractable, and to say that it defies causal analysis is merely to admit that it has thus far not been penetrated by the usual methods of science. What the causal pessimist meant to be a statement of fact is to the working biologist a challenge.”2
Endocrine and Paracrine Regulation of Endometrial Angiogenesis
Authors: TAYLOR ROBERT N. , LEBOVIC DAN I. , HORNUNG DANIELA , MUELLER MICHAEL D. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe human endometrium is a complex tissue comprised of different cell types, including epithelial, stromal, inflammatory, perivascular, and blood vessel cells. The hormonal receptivity and distribution of these cell populations change during the menstrual cycle. Cyclical endometrial growth is dependent on its ability to regenerate a vascular capillary network, which grows in parallel with the proliferation and differentiation of the endometrial lining. Natural hormonal effects on the endometrium and endocrine manipulation of this tissue, in response to the use of exogenous steroid therapies, can affect endometrial capillary proliferation and function, leading to clinical abnormalities of uterine bleeding. We propose that the regulation of endometrial angiogenesis is mediated indirectly via complex interactions among cell types. Our laboratory has focused on a prototypical member of the angiogenic proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)‐A. In this paper we present data demonstrating that VEGF‐A expression in normal endometrial epithelial and stromal cells and in Ishikawa adenocarcinoma cells is increased by an ovarian steroid, estradiol. Infiltrating immune cells, particularly polymorphonuclear granulocytes, also are sources of VEGF‐A. In inflammatory conditions involving the endometrium (e.g., endometriosis), a proinflammatory cytokine, IL‐1β, can mediate neoangiogenesis by inducing VEGF‐A gene transcription. Thus, endometrial vascularization is effected by both endocrine and paracrine pathways.
Caloric Restriction in Primates and Relevance to Humans
Authors: Roth George S. , Ingram Donald K. , Lane Mark A. 
Published: July 2010

Abstract: Dietary caloric restriction (CR) is the only intervention conclusively and reproducibly shown to slow aging and maintain health and vitality in mammals. Although this paradigm has been known for over 60 years, its precise biological mechanisms and applicability to humans remain unknown. We began addressing the latter question in 1987 with the first controlled study of CR in primates (rhesus and squirrel monkeys, which are evolutionarily much closer to humans than the rodents most frequently employed in CR studies). To date, our results strongly suggest that the same beneficial “antiaging” and/or “antidisease” effects observed in CR rodents also occur in primates. These include lower plasma insulin levels and greater sensitivity; lower body temperatures; reduced cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and arterial stiffness; elevated HDL; and slower age‐related decline in circulating levels of DHEAS. Collectively, these biomarkers suggest that CR primates will be less likely to incur diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and other age‐related diseases and may in fact be aging more slowly than fully fed counterparts.Despite these very encouraging results, it is unlikely that most humans would be willing to maintain a 30% reduced diet for the bulk of their adult life span, even if it meant more healthy years. For this reason, we have begun to explore CR mimetics, agents that might elicit the same beneficial effects as CR, without the necessity of dieting. Our initial studies have focused on 2‐deoxyglucose (2DG), a sugar analogue with a limited metabolism that actually reduces glucose/energy flux without decreasing food intake in rats. In a six‐month pilot study, 2DG lowered plasma insulin and body temperature in a manner analagous to that of CR. Thus, metabolic effects that mediate the CR mechanism can be attained pharmacologically. Doses were titrated to eliminate toxicity; a long‐term longevity study is now under way. In addition, data from other laboratories suggest that at least some of the same physiological/metabolic end points that are associated with the beneficial effects of underfeeding may be obtained from other potential CR mimetic agents, some naturally occurring in food products. Much work remains to be done, but taken together, our successful results with CR in primates and 2DG administration to rats suggest that it may indeed be possible to obtain the health‐ and longevity‐promoting effects of the former intervention without actually decreasing food intake.
The Variation of Heat Transfer Coefficient, Adiabatic Effectiveness and Aerodynamic Loss with Film Cooling Hole Shape
Authors: SARGISON J.E. , GUO S.M. , OLDFIELD M.L.G. , RAWLINSON A.J. 
Published: July 2010

Abstract: The heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic effectiveness of cylindrical, fan shaped holes and a slot are presented for the region zero to 50 diameters downstream of the holes. Narrow‐band liquid crystals were used on a heated flat plate with heated air coolant. These parameters have been measured in a steady state, low speed facility at engine representative Reynolds number based on hole diameter and pressure difference ratio (ideal momentum flux ratio). The aerodynamic loss due to each of the film cooling geometries has been measured using a traverse of the boundary layer far downstream of the film cooling holes.Compared to the cylindrical holes, the fan shaped hole case showed an improvement in the uniformity of cooling downstream of the holes and in the level of laterally averaged film cooling effectiveness. The fan effectiveness approached the slot level and both the fan and cylindrical hole cases show lower heat transfer coefficients than the slot and non film cooled cases based on the laterally averaged results. The drawback to the fan shaped hole was that the aerodynamic loss was significantly higher than both the slot and cylindrical hole values due to inefficient diffusion in the hole exit expansion.
Numerical Investigation of Film Cooling Flow Induced by Cylindrical and Shaped Holes
Authors: BARTHET Sylvain , KULISA Pascale 
Published: July 2010

Abstract: The present study is the second half of a two part work carried out in collaboration with SNECMA which tends to investigate a shaped hole film cooling experimentally and numerically. The aim of this paper is the numerical study of 3D phenomena induced by cylindrical and shaped hole film cooling on a flat wall.The two calculations show up classical structures such as horseshoe or kidney vortices and their differences according to the shape configuration. A detailed study demonstrates their influence on the jet behaviour. Comparing both cases reveals the impact of shaping on the velocity field and vortex motions.The calculations were performed by resolving the 3D Navier‐Stokes equations associated with a k‐ε turbulence model. The solver is the CANARI code developed by ONERA.
EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF AVERAGE TURBULENT HEAT TRANSFER AND FRICTION FACTOR IN STATOR INTERNAL RIB‐ ROUGHENED COOLING CHANNELS
Authors: BATTISTI L. , BAGGIO P. 
Published: July 2010

Abstract: In gas turbine cooling design, techniques for heat extraction from the surfaces exposed to the hot stream are based on the increase of the inner heat transfer areas and on the promotion of the turbulence of the cooling flow. This is currently obtained by casting periodic ribs on one or more sides of the serpentine passages into the core of the blade. Fluid dynamic and thermal behaviour of the cooling flow have been extensively investigated by means of experimental facilities and many papers dealing with this subject have appeared in the latest years. The evaluation of the average value of the heat transfer coefficient most of the time is inferred from local measurements obtained by various experimental techniques. Moreover the great majority of these studies are not concerned with the overall average heat transfer coefficient for the combined ribs and region between them, but do focus just on one of them.This paper presents an attempt to collect information about the average Nusselt number inside a straight ribbed duct. Series of measurements have been performed in steady state eliminating the error sources inherently connected with transient methods. A low speed wind tunnel, operating in steady state flow, has been built to simulate the actual flow condition occurring in a rectilinear blade cooling channel. A straight square channel with 20 transverse ribs on two sides has been tested for Re of about 3·104, 4.5·1O4 and 6·104. The ribbed wall test section is electrically heated and the heat removed by a stationary flow of known thermal and fluid dynamic characteristics.