bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Surface Lipoprotein PpiA of Streptococcus mutans Suppresses Scavenger Receptor MARCO-Dependent Phagocytosis by Macrophages
Authors: Mukouhara Tadashi , Arimoto Takafumi , Cho Kasei , Yamamoto Matsuo , Igarashi Takeshi 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTStreptococcus mutansis associated with the initiation and progression of human dental caries and is occasionally isolated from the blood of patients with bacteremia and infective endocarditis. For the pathogen to survive in the infected host, surface lipoproteins ofS. mutansare likely to play important roles in interactions with the innate immune system. To clarify the role that a putative lipoprotein, peptidyl-prolylcis/trans-isomerase (PpiA), ofS. mutansplays in the macrophage response, we investigated the response of THP-1-derived macrophages toS. mutanschallenge. The deletion of the gene encoding Lgt eliminated PpiA on the cell surface ofS. mutans, which implies that PpiA is a lipoprotein that is lipid anchored in the cell membrane by Lgt. Human and murine peritoneal macrophages both showed higher phagocytic activities for theppiAandlgtmutants than the wild type, which indicates that the presence of PpiA reducesS. mutansphagocytosis. In addition, infection withS. mutansmarkedly induced mRNAs of macrophage receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO) and scavenger receptor A (SR-A) in human macrophages. In particular, transcriptional and translational levels of MARCO in human macrophages infected with theppiAmutant were higher than those in macrophages infected with the wild type. Phagocytosis ofS. mutansby human macrophages markedly decreased after treatment with anti-MARCO IgG. These results demonstrate that theS. mutanslipoprotein PpiA contributes to suppression of MARCO-mediated phagocytosis of this bacterium by macrophages.
COP9 Signalosome Regulates Autophagosome Maturation
Authors: Su Huabo , Li Faqian , Ranek Mark J. , Wei Ning , Wang Xuejun 
Published: October 2011

Background—
Autophagy is essential to intracellular homeostasis and is involved in the pathophysiology of a variety of diseases. Mechanisms regulating selective autophagy remain poorly understood. The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a conserved protein complex consisting of 8 subunits (CSN1 through CSN8), and is known to regulate the ubiquitin-proteasome system. However, it is unknown whether CSN plays a role in autophagy.

Methods and Results—
Marked increases in the LC3-II and p62 proteins were observed on Csn8 depletion in the cardiomyocytes of mouse hearts with cardiomyocyte-restricted knockout of the gene encoding CSN subunit 8 (CR-Csn8KO). The increases in autophagosomes were confirmed by probing with green fluorescent protein–LC3 and electron microscopy. Autophagic flux assessments revealed that defective autophagosome removal was the cause of autophagosome accumulation and occurred before a global ubiquitin-proteasome system impairment in Csn8-deficient hearts. Analyzing the prevalence of different stages of autophagic vacuoles revealed defective autophagosome maturation. Downregulation of Rab7 was found to colocalize strikingly with the autophagosome accumulation at the individual cardiomyocyte level. A significantly higher percent of cardiomyocytes with autophagosome accumulation underwent necrosis in CR-Csn8KO hearts. Long-term lysosomal inhibition with chloroquine induced cardiomyocyte necrosis in mice. Rab7 knockdown impaired autophagosome maturation of nonselective and selective autophagy and exacerbated cell death induced by proteasome inhibition in cultured cardiomyocytes.

Conclusions—
Csn8/CSN is a central regulator in not only the proteasomal proteolytic pathway, but also selective autophagy. Likely through regulating the expression of Rab7, Csn8/CSN plays a critical role in autophagosome maturation. Impaired autophagosome maturation causes cardiomyocytes to undergo necrosis.
Cooling of Entrained Parcels in a Large-Eddy Simulation
Authors: Yamaguchi Takanobu , Randall David A 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
The relative importance, for cloud-top entrainment, of the cooling rates due to longwave radiation, evaporation, and mixing was assessed through analysis of the results produced by a Lagrangian parcel-tracking model (LPTM) incorporated into a large-eddy simulation model. The LPTM predicts each parcel’s trajectory over time, using the resolved velocity simulated by the host model. An LPTM makes it possible to identify entrained parcels; this is almost impossible to do in an observational study.
A nocturnal stratocumulus cloud was simulated over 4h using a 5-m horizontal grid spacing and a 2.5-m vertical grid spacing. At the start of the last hour of the simulation, over 40 million parcels were placed near the top of the inversion layer and then tracked. Parcel histories were analyzed to identify entrained parcels.
Entrainment occurs in cloud holes, which occur in dry regions of sinking air. Entrainment into the mixed layer is regulated by buoyancy, which requires parcels to be precooled in the inversion layer, prior to entrainment. A mixing fraction analysis was used to separate the cooling due to longwave radiation, evaporation, and mixing. Results show that radiative and evaporative cooling are of comparable importance, but that mixing is by far the dominant cooling mechanism. The radiative cooling rate is strongly inhomogeneous, and only weak radiative cooling is found in regions of entrainment. Therefore, the entrained parcels experience less than the horizontal-mean radiative cooling. Although radiative cooling maintains the boundary layer turbulence, its direct effect on buoyancy of entrained parcels is modest.
How Total Precipitable Water Vapor Anomalies Relate to Cloud Vertical Structure
Authors: Forsythe John M. , Dodson Jason B. , Partain Philip T. , Kidder Stanley Q. , Vonder Haar Thomas H. 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
The NOAA operational total precipitable water (TPW) anomaly product is available to forecasters to display percentage of normal TPW in real time for applications like heavy precipitation forecasts. In this work, the TPW anomaly is compared to multilayer cloud frequency and vertical structure. The hypothesis is tested that the TPW anomaly is reflective of changes in cloud vertical distribution, and that anomalously moist atmospheres have more and deeper clouds, while dry atmospheres have fewer and thinner clouds. Cloud vertical occurrence profiles from the CloudSat 94-GHz radar and the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) are composited according to TPW anomaly for summer and winter from 2007 to 2010. Three geographic regions are examined: the North Pacific (NPAC), the tropical east Pacific (Niño), and the Mississippi Valley (MSVL), which is a land-only region. Cloud likelihood increases as TPW anomaly values increase beyond 100% over MSVL and Niño. Over NPAC, shallow boundary layer cloud occurrence is not a function of TPW anomaly, while high clouds and deep clouds throughout the troposphere are more likely at higher TPW anomalies. In the Niño region, boundary layer clouds grow vertically as the TPW anomaly increases, and the anomaly range is smaller than in the midlatitudes. In summer, the MSVL region resembles Niño, but boundary layer clouds are observed less frequently than expected. The wintertime MSVL results do not show any compelling relationship, perhaps because of the difficulties in computing TPW anomaly in a very dry atmosphere.
Na+-stimulated phosphate uptake system in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 with Pst1 as a main transporter
Authors: Burut-Archanai Surachet , Eaton-Rye Julian J , Incharoensakdi Aran 
Published: October 2011

Abstract

Background
Most living cells uptake phosphate, an indispensable nutrient for growth from their natural environment. In Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, the cells lack phosphate-inorganic transport (Pit) system but contain two phosphate-specific transport (Pst) systems, Pst1 and Pst2. We investigated the kinetics of Pi uptake of these two Pst systems by constructing the two mutants, ΔPst1 and ΔPst2, and comparing their kinetic properties with those of the wild-type cells under both Pi-sufficient and deficient conditions. The effects of pH and Na+ on the uptake of phosphate in Synechocystis were also studied.

Results
Growth rates of the two mutants and wild type were similar either under phosphate-sufficient or deficient condition. The K

m
for phosphate uptake was 6.09 μM in wild type and this was reduced to 0.13 μM in ΔPst1 cells and 5.16 μM in the ΔPst2 strain. The V

max
values of 2.48, 0.22, and 2.17 μmol • (min • mg of chlorophyll a)-1 were obtained for wild type, the ΔPst1 and ΔPst2 strains, respectively. A monophasic phosphate uptake was observed in wild-type cells. The uptake of phosphate was energy and pH-dependent with a broad pH optimum between pH 7-10. Osmolality imposed by NaCl stimulated phosphate uptake whereas that imposed by sorbitol decreased uptake, suggesting stimulation of uptake was dependent upon ionic effects.

Conclusion
The data demonstrate that Pst2 system of Synechocystis has higher affinity toward phosphate with lower V

max
than Pst1 system. The Pst1 system had similar K

m
and V

max
values to those of the wild type suggesting that Pst1 is the main phosphate transporter in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The K

m
of Pst1 of Synechocystis is closer to that of Pit system than to that of the Pst system of E. coli, suggesting that Synechocystis Pst1 is rather a medium/low affinity transporter whereas Pst2 is a high affinity transporter.
Isolation of mineralizing Nestin+ Nkx6.1+ vascular muscular cells from the adult human spinal cord
Authors: Mamaeva Daria , Ripoll Chantal , Bony Claire , Teigell Marisa , Perrin Florence E , Rothhut Bernard , Bieche Ivan , Lidereau Rosette , Privat Alain , Rigau Valérie , Guillon Hélène , Vachiery-Lahaye Florence , Noel Daniele , Bauchet Luc , Hugnot Jean-Philippe 
Published: October 2011

AbstractBackgroundThe adult central nervous system (CNS) contains different populations of immature cells that could possibly be used to repair brain and spinal cord lesions. The diversity and the properties of these cells in the human adult CNS remain to be fully explored. We previously isolated Nestin+Sox2+neural multipotential cells from the adult human spinal cord using the neurosphere method (i.e. non adherent conditions and defined medium).ResultsHere we report the isolation and long term propagation of another population of Nestin+cells from this tissue using adherent culture conditions and serum. QPCR and immunofluorescence indicated that these cells had mesenchymal features as evidenced by the expression of Snai2 and Twist1 and lack of expression of neural markers such as Sox2, Olig2 or GFAP. Indeed, these cells expressed markers typical of smooth muscle vascular cells such as Calponin, Caldesmone and Acta2 (Smooth muscle actin). These cells could not differentiate into chondrocytes, adipocytes, neuronal and glial cells, however they readily mineralized when placed in osteogenic conditions. Further characterization allowed us to identify the Nkx6.1 transcription factor as a marker for these cells. Nkx6.1 was expressed in vivo by CNS vascular muscular cells located in the parenchyma and the meninges.ConclusionSmooth muscle cells expressing Nestin and Nkx6.1 is the main cell population derived from culturing human spinal cord cells in adherent conditions with serum. Mineralization of these cells in vitro could represent a valuable model for studying calcifications of CNS vessels which are observed in pathological situations or as part of the normal aging. In addition, long term propagation of these cells will allow the study of their interaction with other CNS cells and their implication in scar formation during spinal cord injury.
High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) screening and detection in healthy patient saliva samples: a pilot study
Authors: Turner Deidre O , Williams-Cocks Shelley J , Bullen Ryan , Catmull Jeremy , Falk Jesse , Martin Daniel , Mauer Jarom , Barber Annabel E , Wang Robert C , Gerstenberger Shawn L , Kingsley Karl 
Published: October 2011

Abstract

Background
The human papillomaviruses (HPV) are a large family of non-enveloped DNA viruses, mainly associated with cervical cancers. Recent epidemiologic evidence has suggested that HPV may be an independent risk factor for oropharyngeal cancers. Evidence now suggests HPV may modulate the malignancy process in some tobacco- and alcohol-induced oropharynx tumors, but might also be the primary oncogenic factor for inducing carcinogenesis among some non-smokers. More evidence, however, is needed regarding oral HPV prevalence among healthy adults to estimate risk. The goal of this study was to perform an HPV screening of normal healthy adults to assess oral HPV prevalence.

Methods
Healthy adult patients at a US dental school were selected to participate in this pilot study. DNA was isolated from saliva samples and screened for high-risk HPV strains HPV16 and HPV18 and further processed using qPCR for quantification and to confirm analytical sensitivity and specificity.

Results
Chi-square analysis revealed the patient sample was representative of the general clinic population with respect to gender, race and age (p < 0.05). Four patient samples were found to harbor HPV16 DNA, representing 2.6% of the total (n = 151). Three of the four HPV16-positive samples were from patients under 65 years of age and all four were female and Hispanic (non-White). No samples tested positive for HPV18.

Conclusions
The successful recruitment and screening of healthy adult patients revealed HPV16, but not HPV18, was present in a small subset. These results provide new information about oral HPV status, which may help to contextualize results from other studies that demonstrate oral cancer rates have risen in the US among both females and minorities and in some geographic areas that are not solely explained by rates of tobacco and alcohol use. The results of this study may be of significant value to further our understanding of oral health and disease risk, as well as to help design future studies exploring the role of other factors that influence oral HPV exposure, as well as the short- and long-term consequences of oral HPV infection.
A model-based circular binary segmentation algorithm for the analysis of array CGH data
Authors: Hsu Fang-Han , Chen Hung-I H , Tsai Mong-Hsun , Lai Liang-Chuan , Huang Chi-Cheng , Tu Shih-Hsin , Chuang Eric Y , Chen Yidong 
Published: October 2011

Abstract

Background
Circular Binary Segmentation (CBS) is a permutation-based algorithm for array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) data analysis. CBS accurately segments data by detecting change-points using a maximal-t test; but extensive computational burden is involved for evaluating the significance of change-points using permutations. A recent implementation utilizing a hybrid method and early stopping rules (hybrid CBS) to improve the performance in speed was subsequently proposed. However, a time analysis revealed that a major portion of computation time of the hybrid CBS was still spent on permutation. In addition, what the hybrid method provides is an approximation of the significance upper bound or lower bound, not an approximation of the significance of change-points itself.

Results
We developed a novel model-based algorithm, extreme-value based CBS (eCBS), which limits permutations and provides robust results without loss of accuracy. Thousands of aCGH data under null hypothesis were simulated in advance based on a variety of non-normal assumptions, and the corresponding maximal-t distribution was modeled by the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The modeling results, which associate characteristics of aCGH data to the GEV parameters, constitute lookup tables (eXtreme model). Using the eXtreme model, the significance of change-points could be evaluated in a constant time complexity through a table lookup process.

Conclusions
A novel algorithm, eCBS, was developed in this study. The current implementation of eCBS consistently outperforms the hybrid CBS 4× to 20× in computation time without loss of accuracy. Source codes, supplementary materials, supplementary figures, and supplementary tables can be found at http://ntumaps.cgm.ntu.edu.tw/eCBSsupplementary.
Cognitive foundations of topic-comment and foreground-background structures: Evidence from sign languages, cospeech gesture and homesign
Authors: Engberg-Pedersen Elisabeth 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
Krifka (The origin of topic/comment structure, of predication, and of focusation in asymmetric bimanual coordination, 2006, Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure (ISIS): Working Papers of SFB 632 08: 61–96, 2007b) suggests that asymmetric bimanual coordination and ultimately the evolution of lateralization in humans may be the cognitive basis of linguistic topic-comment structure and foreground-background structures in general. As asymmetric bimanual constructions abound in sign languages and are also found in their possible precursors, cospeech gesture and homesign, sign languages may serve as a test ground for the hypothesis. Asymmetric bimanual constructions are indeed used for differentiating foreground and background in sign languages, but some of these constructions are derived from indexical gestures, not manipulation, i.e., they draw on visual attention. Signed topics may be marked by nonmanual features derived from signals of visual attention, and the defining feature of signed topics is eye contact with the addressee, needed to establish a communicative common ground. There, thus, seems to be not one embodied origin of topic-comment structures, but several. Finally, signed topic-comment structure demonstrates how attention shifts in the course of the entire structure, thereby explaining how topics can be described alternately as foreground (e.g., Talmy, Attention phenomena, Oxford University Press, 2007: 265) and background (Jacobs, Linguistics 39: 641–681, 2001).
Experimental and clinical evidence for the protective role of progesterone in motoneuron degeneration and neuroinflammation
Authors: Deniselle M.C. Gonzalez , Garay L. , Meyer M. , Gargiulo-Monachelli G. , Labombarda F. , Gonzalez S. , Guennoun R. , Schumacher M. , De Nicola Alejandro F. 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
Far beyond its role in reproduction, progesterone exerts neuro­protective, promyelinating, and anti-inflammatory effects in the nervous system. These effects are amplified under pathological conditions, implying that changes of the local environment sensitize nervous tissues to steroid therapy. The present survey covers our results of progesterone neuroprotection in a motoneuron neurodegeneration model and a neuroinflammation model. In the degenerating spinal cord of the Wobbler mouse, progesterone reverses the impaired expression of neurotrophins, increases enzymes of neurotransmission and metabolism, prevents oxidative damage of motoneurons and their vacuolar degeneration (paraptosis), and attenuates the development of mitochondrial abnormalities. After long-term treatment, progesterone also increases muscle strength and the survival of Wobbler mice. Subsequently, this review describes the effects of progesterone in mice with induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a commonly used model of multiple sclerosis. In EAE mice, progesterone attenuates the clinical severity, decreases demyelination and neuronal dysfunction, increases axonal counts, reduces the formation of amyloid precursor protein profiles, and decreases the aberrant expression of growth-associated proteins. These actions of progesterone may be due to multiple mechanisms, considering that classic nuclear receptors, extranuclear receptors, and membrane receptors are all expressed in the spinal cord. Although many aspects of progesterone action in humans remain unsolved, data provided by experimental models makes getting to this objective closer than previously expected.
Inpatient Costs and Charges for Surgical Treatment of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Authors: Dean Peter N. , Hillman Diane G. , McHugh Kimberly E. , Gutgesell Howard P. 
Published: October 2011

OBJECTIVE:Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is one of the most serious congenital cardiac anomalies. Typically, it is managed with a series of 3 palliative operations or cardiac transplantation. Our goal was to quantify the inpatient resource burden of HLHS across multiple academic medical centers.METHODS:The University HealthSystem Consortium is an alliance of 101 academic medical centers and 178 affiliated hospitals that share diagnostic, procedural, and financial data on all discharges. We examined inpatient resource use by patients with HLHS who underwent a staged palliative procedure or cardiac transplantation between 1998 and 2007.RESULTS:Among 1941 neonates, stage 1 palliation (Norwood or Sano procedure) had a median length of stay (LOS) of 25 days and charges of $214 680. Stage 2 and stage 3 palliation (Glenn and Fontan procedures, respectively) had median LOS and charges of 8 days and $82 174 and 11 days and $79 549, respectively. Primary neonatal transplantation had an LOS of 87 days and charges of $582 920, and rescue transplantation required 36 days and $411 121. The median inpatient wait time for primary and rescue transplants was 42 and 6 days, respectively. Between 1998 and 2007, the LOS for stage 1 palliation increased from 16 to 28 days and inflation-adjusted charges increased from $122 309 to $280 909, largely because of increasing survival rates (57% in 1998 and 83% in 2007).CONCLUSIONS:Patients with HLHS demand considerable inpatient resources, whether treated with the Norwood-Glenn-Fontan procedure pathway or cardiac transplantation. Improved survival rates have led to increased hospital stays and costs.
Effectiveness of Screening for Life-Threatening Chest Pain in Children
Authors: Saleeb Susan F. , Li Wing Yi V. , Warren Shira Z. , Lock James E. 
Published: October 2011

OBJECTIVE:We sought to determine the incidence of sudden cardiac death among patients discharged from the cardiology clinic with presumed noncardiac chest pain (CP).METHODS:The records of children &gt;6 years of age who presented to Children's Hospital Boston between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2009, with a complaint of CP were reviewed for demographic features, clinical characteristics, resource utilization, and presumed diagnosis. Patients were searched for in the US National Death Index and Social Security Death Index.RESULTS:Data for a total of 3700 patients with CP (median age at evaluation: 13.4 years [range: 7–22.3 years]) were reviewed. The median follow-up period was 4.4 years (range: 0.5–10.4 years), for total of 17 886 patient-years of follow-up data. CP with exertion occurred in 1222 cases (33%), including 15 with associated syncope. A cardiac cause was determined in 37 cases; the remaining 3663 patients (99%) had CP of unknown (n = 1928), musculoskeletal (n = 1345), pulmonary (n = 242), gastrointestinal (n = 108), anxiety-related (n = 34), or drug-related (n = 4) origin. Emergency department visits for CP were documented for 670 patients (18%), and 263 patients (7%) had cardiology follow-up visits related to CP. There were 3 deaths, including 2 suicides and 1 spontaneous retroperitoneal hemorrhage.CONCLUSION:CP in children is a common complaint and rarely has a cardiac cause. Review of 1 decade of cardiology visits (nearly 18 000 patient years) revealed that no patient discharged from the clinic died as a result of a cardiac condition.