bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exercise normalizes levels of MAG and Nogo‐A growth inhibitors after brain trauma
Authors: Chytrova Gabriela , Ying Zhe , Gomez‐Pinilla Fernando 
Published: July 2010

AbstractMyelin is a major obstacle for axonal growth after CNS injury, to the extent that it is crucial to develop interventions to counteract postinjury growth inhibition and foster neural repair. We have studied the effects of the fluid percussion injury (FPI) model of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on protein levels of two myelin‐associated molecules, myelin‐associated glycoprotein (MAG) and Nogo‐A, in the adult rat. We found that FPI elevated hippocampal levels of MAG and Nogo‐A. Given the beneficial effects of exercise on CNS function, we evaluated the capacity of exercise to reduce these myelin‐derived proteins after FPI. One week of voluntary running wheel exercise overcame the injury‐related increase in MAG and Nogo‐A. The action of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been associated with exercise as well as with the modulation of growth inhibition in vitro. We found that the selective blockade of BDNF using the immunoadhesive chimera TrkB‐IgG abolished the effects of exercise on MAG and Nogo‐A. FPI reduced levels of growth‐associated protein 43 (GAP‐43), a marker of axonal growth, and synaptophysin (SYP), an indicator of synaptic growth. Exercise counteracted the effects of FPI on GAP‐43 and SYP, while BDNF blockade abolished these effects of exercise. Protein kinase A (PKA) has been related to the ability of BDNF to overcome growth inhibition. In agreement, we found that exercise increased PKA levels and this effect was prevented by BDNF blockade. These results indicate that exercise promotes a permissive cellular environment for repair after TBI, in a process in which BDNF plays a central role.
Adjunctive use of the non‐ionic surfactant Poloxamer  188 improves fetal dopaminergic cell survival and reinnervation in a neural transplantation strategy for Parkinson's disease
Authors: Quinn M. , Mukhida K. , Sadi D. , Hong M. , Mendez I. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractAlthough neural transplantation of fetal dopaminergic cells is a promising therapy for Parkinson's disease, poor transplanted cell survival limits its efficacy. In the present study it was hypothesized that the use of Poloxamer 188 (P188), a non‐ionic surfactant, during cell preparation and transplantation may protect cells from associated mechanical injury and thus improve transplanted cell survival in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Fetal rat dopaminergic tissue was dissociated in media with or without P188 and then cultured for 1 week or transplanted into the striatum of rats with unilateral 6‐hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway. Fetal dopaminergic cell survival and reinnervation of the host brain were examined using tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry and stereological quantification. The number of surviving tyrosine hydroxylase‐immunoreactive cells in vitro and in vivo was significantly increased by 2.2‐fold by incubating fetal dopaminergic cells with P188 during tissue dissociation. Furthermore, the striatal reinnervation in parkinsonian rats that received intrastriatal transplants of P188‐exposed dopaminergic cells was significantly enhanced (1.8‐fold increase) compared with rats that received non‐P188‐treated cells. In conclusion, P188 protects fetal dopaminergic cells from mechanical injury by increasing cell survival and enhances dopaminergic fibre outgrowth into the transplanted striatum. Use of P188 may thus be an important adjunct to improve the clinical efficacy of neural transplantation for Parkinson's disease.
Hypoxia induces complex I inhibition and ultrastructural damage by increasing mitochondrial nitric oxide in developing CNS
Authors: Giusti Sebastián , Converso Daniela P. , Poderoso Juan J. , Fiszer de Plazas Sara 
Published: July 2010

AbstractNO‐mediated toxicity contributes to neuronal damage after hypoxia; however, the molecular mechanisms involved are still a matter of controversy. Since mitochondria play a key role in signalling neuronal death, we aimed to determine the role of nitrative stress in hypoxia‐induced mitochondrial damage. Therefore, we analysed the biochemical and ultrastructural impairment of these organelles in the optic lobe of chick embryos after in vivo hypoxia–reoxygenation. Also, we studied the NO‐dependence of damage and examined modulation of mitochondrial nitric oxide synthase (mtNOS) after the hypoxic event. A transient but substantial increase in mtNOS content and activity was observed at 0–2 h posthypoxia, resulting in accumulation of nitrated mitochondrial proteins measured by immunoblotting. However, no variations in nNOS content were observed in the homogenates, suggesting an increased translocation to mitochondria and not a general de novo synthesis. In parallel with mtNOS kinetics, mitochondria exhibited prolonged inhibition of maximal complex I activity and ultrastructural phenotypes associated with swelling, namely, fading of cristae, intracristal dilations and membrane disruption. Administration of the selective nNOS inhibitor 7‐nitroindazole 20 min before hypoxia prevented complex I inhibition and most ultrastructural damage. In conclusion, we show here for the first time that hypoxia induces NO‐dependent complex I inhibition and ultrastructural damage by increasing mitochondrial NO in the developing brain.
Lamina‐specific restoration of serotonergic projections after Nogo‐A antibody treatment of spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Müllner Angela , Gonzenbach Roman R. , Weinmann Oli , Schnell Lisa , Liebscher Thomas , Schwab Martin E. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractBlocking the neurite growth inhibitor Nogo‐A by neutralizing antibodies improves functional recovery after partial spinal cord injury. In parallel, regeneration and sprouting of cortico‐ and rubrospinal projections are increased and may partially explain the enhanced functional recovery. The serotonergic raphe‐spinal tract, which plays a key regulatory role for spinal motor circuits, has not been analysed in detail with regard to its response to Nogo‐A function blocking antibody treatment after spinal cord injury. We studied the effect of 2 weeks of intrathecal Nogo‐A antibody application after partial thoracic spinal cord injury on the lamina‐specific restitution of the serotonergic (5‐HT) raphe‐spinal projections to the mid‐lumbar grey matter. Nine weeks after the lesion, the number of 5‐HT fibres in Rexed's laminae 4 and 7 and the number of 5‐HT‐positive varicosities on motoneurons in lamina 9 returned to their lamina‐specific preinjury levels in Nogo‐A antibody‐treated rats. By contrast, control antibody‐treated animals showed only a moderate increase in 5‐HT fibre density in the respective laminae, and the number of 5‐HT‐positive varicosities on motoneurons remained low. Our results suggest that the Nogo‐A antibody‐induced recovery of descending serotonergic projections to the grey matter is lamina‐specific and molecular cues must be present to guide the growing axons to the correct target areas. This appropriate restitution of the serotonergic innervation below the lesion site probably contributes to the impressive recovery of motor function.
Angiotensin type 1 receptor antagonist inhibits lipopolysaccharide‐induced stimulation of rat microglial cells by suppressing nuclear factor κB and activator protein‐1 activation
Authors: Miyoshi Michio , Miyano Kanako , Moriyama Naoki , Taniguchi Makoto , Watanabe Tatsuo 
Published: July 2010

AbstractWe investigated whether angiotensin (ANG) II and its receptors contribute to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced microglial activation through activation of the proinflammatory transcription factors nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) and activator protein‐1 (AP‐1). Using primary microglial cell cultures, we examined whether losartan [ANG type 1 receptor (AT1) antagonist] alters the effects of LPS on: the production of interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and nitric oxide, cell morphology, and NF‐κB and AP‐1 activities. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction revealed that LPS‐stimulated microglial cells exhibited marked mRNA expression for AT1, ANG type 2 receptor (AT2) and the ANG II precursor angiotensinogen, whereas non‐stimulated microglial cells expressed only those for AT2 and angiotensinogen. We further demonstrated marked peptide/protein expression for AT1 and ANG II in LPS‐activated microglial cells. LPS (100 ng/mL)‐stimulated microglial cells showed increased concentrations of IL‐1 and nitrite (a relatively stable metabolite of nitric oxide), and increased expression of IL‐1 mRNA as well as a morphological change from an amoeboid shape to a multipolar (mostly bipolar but sometimes tripolar) rod shape. These effects were all significantly inhibited by losartan treatment (10−5 m or less). NF‐κB and AP‐1 activities were enhanced in LPS‐stimulated microglial cells, effects that were significantly suppressed by losartan (10−5 m). ANG II application enhanced the LPS‐induced increases in IL‐1 and nitrite concentrations, as well as the LPS‐induced morphological changes and AP‐1 activation, and these enhancements were inhibited by losartan (10−5 m). These results suggest that endogenous ANG II enhances LPS‐induced microglial activities through stimulation of the microglial AT1, which itself evokes activation of the transcription factors NF‐κB and AP‐1.
Remotely sensed vegetation phenology and productivity along a climatic gradient: on the value of incorporating the dimension of woody plant cover
Authors: Davison Jennifer E. , Breshears David D. , van Leeuwen Willem J. D. , Casady Grant M. 
Published: July 2010

ABSTRACTAim  Woody plants affect vegetation–environment interactions by modifying microclimate, soil moisture dynamics and carbon cycling. In examining broad‐scale patterns in terrestrial vegetation dynamics, explicit consideration of variation in the amount of woody plant cover could provide additional explanatory power that might not be available when only considering landscape‐scale climate patterns or specific vegetation assemblages. Here we evaluate the interactive influence of woody plant cover on remotely sensed vegetation dynamics across a climatic gradient along a sky island.Location  The Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA.Methods  Using a satellite‐measured normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 2000 to 2008, we conducted time‐series and regression analyses to explain the variation in functional attributes of vegetation (productivity, seasonality and phenology) related to: (1) vegetation community, (2) elevation as a proxy for climate, and (3) woody plant cover, given the effects of the other environmental variables, as an additional ecological dimension that reflects potential vegetation–environment feedbacks at the local scale.Results  NDVI metrics were well explained by interactions among elevation, vegetation community and woody plant cover. After accounting for elevation and vegetation community, woody plant cover explained up to 67% of variation in NDVI metrics and, notably, clarified elevation‐ and community‐specific patterns of vegetation dynamics across the gradient.Main conclusions  In addition to the environmental factors usually considered – climate, reflecting resources and constraints, and vegetation community, reflecting species composition and relative dominance – woody plant cover, a broad‐scale proxy of many vegetation–environment interactions, represents an ecological dimension that provides additional process‐related understanding of landscape‐scale patterns of vegetation function.
Near‐term fetuses process temporal features of speech
Authors: Granier‐Deferre Carolyn , Ribeiro Aurélie , Jacquet Anne‐Yvonne , Bassereau Sophie 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe perception of speech and music requires processing of variations in spectra and amplitude over different time intervals. Near‐term fetuses can discriminate acoustic features, such as frequencies and spectra, but whether they can process complex auditory streams, such as speech sequences and more specifically their temporal variations, fast or relatively slow acoustic variations, is unclear. We recorded the cardiac activity of 82 near‐term fetuses (38 weeks GA) in quiet sleep during a silent control condition and four 15 s streams presented at 90 dB SPL Leq: two piano melodies with opposite contours, a natural Icelandic sentence and a chimera of the sentence – all its spectral information was replaced with broadband noise, leaving its specific temporal variations in amplitude intact without any phonological information. All stimuli elicited a heart rate deceleration. The response patterns to the melodies were the same and differed significantly from those observed with the Icelandic sentence and its chimera, which did not differ. The melodies elicited a monophasic heart rate deceleration, indicating a stimulus orienting reflex while the Icelandic and its chimera evoked a sustained lower magnitude response, indicating a sustained attentional response or more focused information processing. A conservative interpretation of the data is that near‐term fetuses can perceive sound streams and the rapid temporal variations in amplitude that are specific to speech sounds with no spectral variations at all.
Cooperation and Status in Organizations
Authors: ECKEL CATHERINE C. , FATAS ENRIQUE , WILSON RICK 
Published: July 2010

AbstractWe report the results of experiments designed to test the effect of social status on contributions to a public good, with and without punishment. The experiments are conducted in four‐person groups in a “star” network, where one central player observes and is observed by the others. This imposes a social structure on the game, and gives the central player a leadership role in the group, simply by virtue of being commonly observed. We further manipulate status by allocating the central position to the person who earns the highest, or the lowest, score on a trivia quiz. These high‐status and low‐status treatments are compared, and we find that the effect of organizational structure—the existence of a central position—depends on the status of the central player. Higher status players are attended to and mimicked more systematically. Punishment has differential effects in the two treatments, and is least effective in the high‐status case.
Public Goods Games, Altruism, and Evolution
Authors: ALGER INGELA 
Published: July 2010

AbstractI analyze the evolution of altruistic preferences in a population where individuals are matched pairwise to play a one‐shot public goods game. I determine the evolutionarily stable degree of altruism, allowing for assortative matching. The stable degree of altruism is strictly smaller than the degree of assortativity. In particular, if matching is completely random, spite is stable, and a positive degree of assortativity is necessary for pure selfishness to be stable. Furthermore, the stable degree of altruism is increasing in the degree of assortativity, and it depends on the specifics of the public goods game.
The Consequences of Zakat for Capital Accumulation
Authors: NORULAZIDAH P.H. OMAR ALI D.H. , MYLES GARETH D. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe payment of zakat by the owners of wealth is one of the five pillars of Islam. Many countries operate with no enforcement of the obligation to pay, making zakat a form of voluntary redistribution. We analyze how zakat affects capital accumulation in a model that explicitly recognizes the voluntary nature of zakat. The voluntary payment is modeled using both warm glow and social custom frameworks. These are embedded within an overlapping generations model with heterogenous consumers and endogenous population growth. The results show that zakat can raise the capital–labor ratio when it is motivated by the warm glow but welfare can be nonmonotonic in the strength of the warm glow. In the social custom model, reduced participation can lead to a reduced capital–labor ratio as the rate of zakat is increased.
Trafficking in Persons and Development: Towards Greater Policy Coherence
Authors: Danailova‐Trainor Gergana , Laczko Frank 
Published: July 2010

AbstractPoverty is often regarded as the “root cause” of trafficking, but the linkages between poverty, a lack of development and trafficking are complex. For example, there is some evidence to suggest that victims of cross‐border trafficking are more likely to originate from middle‐income rather than lower‐income countries. Trafficking and development have tended to be treated as very separate policy areas and the assessment of the development impact of counter‐trafficking programmes is still at an early stage. This paper outlines a possible framework for a more evidence‐based approach to understanding the linkages between trafficking, trafficking policy and human development. The paper argues that the human development gains from greater mobility could be significantly enhanced if there was greater coherence between policies to combat trafficking and policies to promote development.
Importance of treatment of skin xerosis in diabetes
Authors: Seité S , Khemis A , Rougier A , Ortonne JP 
Published: July 2010

AbstractBackground  Cutaneous complications are common in diabetes patients and previous studies have shown that diabetes can affect some biophysical skin characteristics. However, the interest of emollients in diabetes has never been clearly demonstrated; i.e. whether they are able to limit skin complications in diabetes patients.Objective  The aim of this study was to evaluate the tolerance and the effect of an emollient on patient with diabetes.Method  Forty patients with diabetes applied the emollient twice daily for 1 month on one arm and one leg, in normal conditions.Results  A 1‐month treatment with an emollient allows a similar skin hydration rate in diabetics to that in healthy people. This dry skin improvement is accompanied by a significant reduction in pruritus and desquamation, and a significant improvement in the skin barrier function.Conclusion  Emollient treatment can be useful in the management of diabetes by limiting skin complications associated with elevated blood sugar.
Shifting visual attention away from fixation is specifically associated with alpha band activity over ipsilateral parietal regions
Authors: Cosmelli Diego , López Vladimir , Lachaux Jean‐Philippe , López‐Calderón Javier , Renault Bernard , Martinerie Jacques , Aboitiz Francisco 
Published: July 2010

AbstractWe studied brain activity during the displacement of attention in a modified visuo‐spatial orienting paradigm. Using a behaviorally relevant no‐shift condition as a control, we asked whether ipsi‐ or contralateral parietal alpha band activity is specifically related to covert shifts of attention. Cue‐related event‐related potentials revealed an attention directing anterior negativity (ADAN) contralateral to the shift of attention and P3 and contingent negative variation waveforms that were enhanced in both shift conditions as compared to the no‐shift task. When attention was shifted away from fixation, alpha band activity over parietal regions ipsilateral to the attended hemifield was enhanced relative to the control condition, albeit with different dynamics in the upper and lower alpha subbands. Contralateral‐to‐attended parietal alpha band activity was indistinguishable from the no‐shift task.
Combination Treatment With Plasmapheresis and Rituximab for Recurrent Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis After Renal Transplantation
Authors: Tsagalis George , Psimenou E. , Nakopoulou L. , Laggouranis A. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractTherapy for recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in the renal allograft is largely based on case reports. The use of plasmapheresis alone (based on its effectiveness in children) appears less effective in adults, reaching a response rate of <40%. Recently, rituximab, an anti‐CD20 monoclonal chimeric antibody, showed promising results as rescue therapy in plasmapheresis‐resistant recurrent FSGS. However, following rituximab administration, response is variable, often slow and consequently overlooked. We report a series of four cases of recurrent FSGS following renal transplantation successfully treated with a combination of plasmapheresis and rituximab. Complete remission of proteinuria occurred in two and partial remission in the other two patients whereas renal function improved or remained stable. During treatment and the follow‐up period (18–60 months) no severe infectious complications were observed. Our data suggest that the combination of plasmapheresis and rituximab is an acceptable treatment in patients with post‐transplantation recurrent FSGS.
Activating Seniors to Improve Chronic Disease Care: Results from a Pilot Intervention Study
Authors: Frosch Dominick L. , Rincon David , Ochoa Socorro , Mangione Carol M. 
Published: July 2010

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of an activation intervention delivered in community senior centers to improve health outcomes for chronic diseases that disproportionately affect older adults.DESIGN: Two‐group quasi‐experimental study.SETTING: Two Los Angeles community senior centers.PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixteen senior participants.INTERVENTION: Participants were invited to attend group screenings of video programs intended to inform about and motivate self‐management of chronic conditions common in seniors. Moderated discussions reinforcing active patient participation in chronic disease management followed screenings. Screenings were scheduled over the course of 12 weeks.MEASUREMENTS: One center was assigned by coin toss to an encouragement condition in which participants received a $50 gift card if they attended at least three group screenings. Participants in the nonencouraged center received no incentive for attendance. Validated study measures for patient activation, physical activity, and health‐related quality of life were completed at baseline and 12 weeks and 6 months after enrollment.RESULTS: Participants attending the encouraged senior center were more likely to attend three or more group screenings (77.8% vs 47.2%, P=.001). At 6‐month follow‐up, participants from either center who attended three or more group screenings (n=74, 64%) reported significantly greater activation (P<.001), more minutes walking (P<.001) and engaging in vigorous physical activity (P=.006), and better health‐related quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 12‐item Short‐Form Survey (SF‐12) mental component summary, P<.001; SF‐12 physical component summary, P=.002).CONCLUSION: Delivering this pilot intervention in community senior centers is a potentially promising approach to activating seniors that warrants further investigation for improving chronic disease outcomes.