bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Visual cortex excitability and plasticity associated with remission from chronic to episodic migraine
Authors: Chen Wei-Ta , Wang Shuu-Jiun , Fuh Jong-Ling , Ko Yu-Chieh , Lee Yi-Chung , Hämäläinen Matti S , Lin Yung-Yang 
Published: April 2012

Objective: Previous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) studies showed different P100m (where ‘m’ denotes the magnetic counterpart of P100 in conventional visual evoked potentials) responses between episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM) interictally. This study investigated the changes of visual P100m in CM patients who remitted to EM from CM after treatment. Methods: At baseline, 25 patients with CM were studied interictally. For each patient, 30 sequential blocks of 50 P100m responses were obtained by MEG. Sub-averaged amplitudes at blocks 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 were further compared with that at block 1 to assess response habituation or potentiation (i.e. significant decrease or increase at either block vs block 1). The same study was repeated in those patients who remitted from CM to EM after topiramate treatment. Results: In total, 10 CM patients remitted to EM after treatment. In the follow-up study of these patients during the interictal stage, the P100m at block 1 decreased in amplitude from 53.6 ± 6.6 nAm before remission to 43.0 ± 5.1 nAm ( p = 0.028), and the responses at subsequent blocks switched from habituation (amplitude block 30 < block 1 before remission, p = 0.011) to potentiation (block 2 > block 1, p = 0.028). Conclusion: The pattern of P100m responses to consecutive stimulation changes with the transition from CM to EM. Visual cortex plasticity might be a potential biomarker reflecting clinical remission of CM.
Contrast-Enhanced Micro–Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Spontaneous Repair of Equine Cartilage
Authors: Kulmala K.A.M. , Pulkkinen H.J. , Rieppo L. , Tiitu V. , Kiviranta I. , Brünott A. , Brommer H. , van Weeren R. , Brama P.A.J. , Mikkola M.T. , Korhonen R.K. , Jurvelin J.S. , Töyräs J. 
Published: April 2012

Objective: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) has been introduced for the evaluation of cartilage integrity. Furthermore, CECT enables imaging of the structure and density of subchondral bone. In this laboratory study, we investigate the potential of microCECT to simultaneously image cartilage and subchondral bone for the evaluation of tissue healing. Design: Osteochondral lesions (Ø = 6 mm) were surgically created in equine intercarpal joints ( n = 7). After spontaneous healing for 12 months, the horses were sacrificed and osteochondral plugs (Ø = 14 mm), including the repair cartilage and adjacent intact tissue, were harvested. The nonfibrillar and fibrillar moduli and the permeability of cartilage were determined using indentation testing. Contrast agent diffusion into the samples was imaged for 36 hours using high-resolution CT. Results from CECT, mechanical testing, and microscopic analyses were compared and correlated. Results: The contrast agent diffusion coefficient showed a significant ( P < 0.05) difference between the repair and adjacent intact tissue. MicroCECT revealed altered ( P < 0.05) bone volume fraction, mineral density, and microstructure of subchondral bone at the repair site. The contrast agent diffusion coefficient correlated with the moduli of the nonfibrillar matrix ( R = −0.662, P = 0.010), collagen fibril parallelism index ( R = −0.588, P = 0.035), and glycosaminoglycan content ( R = −0.503, P = 0.067). The repair cartilage was mechanically and structurally different from adjacent intact tissue ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: MicroCECT enabled simultaneous quantitative evaluation of subchondral bone and monitoring of cartilage repair, distinguishing quantitatively the repair site from the adjacent intact tissue. As the only technique able to simultaneously image cartilage and determine subchondral bone mineral density and microstructure, CECT has potential clinical value.
Cyclin-A1 represents a new immunogenic targetable antigen expressed in acute myeloid leukemia stem cells with characteristics of a cancer-testis antigen
Authors: Ochsenreither Sebastian , Majeti Ravindra , Schmitt Thomas , Stirewalt Derek , Keilholz Ulrich , Loeb Keith R. , Wood Brent , Choi Yongiae E. , Bleakley Marie , Warren Edus H. , Hudecek Michael , Akatsuka Yoshiki , Weissman Irving L. , Greenberg Philip D. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractTargeted T-cell therapy is a potentially less toxic strategy than allogeneic stem cell transplantation for providing a cytotoxic antileukemic response to eliminate leukemic stem cells (LSCs) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, this strategy requires identification of leukemia-associated antigens that are immunogenic and exhibit selective high expression in AML LSCs. Using microarray expression analysis of LSCs, hematopoietic cell subpopulations, and peripheral tissues to screen for candidate antigens, cyclin-A1 was identified as a candidate gene. Cyclin-A1 promotes cell proliferation and survival, has been shown to be leukemogenic in mice, is detected in LSCs of more than 50% of AML patients, and is minimally expressed in normal tissues with exception of testis. Using dendritic cells pulsed with a cyclin-A1 peptide library, we generated T cells against several cyclin-A1 oligopeptides. Two HLA A*0201-restricted epitopes were further characterized, and specific CD8 T-cell clones recognized both peptide-pulsed target cells and the HLA A*0201-positive AML line THP-1, which expresses cyclin-A1. Furthermore, cyclin-A1–specific CD8 T cells lysed primary AML cells. Thus, cyclin-A1 is the first prototypic leukemia-testis-antigen to be expressed in AML LSCs. The pro-oncogenic activity, high expression levels, and multitude of immunogenic epitopes make it a viable target for pursuing T cell–based therapy approaches.
Uniqueness of meromorphic functions sharing two values
Authors: Cao Yin-Hong , Zhang Xiao-Bin 
Published: April 2012

Abstract
In this article, we shall study the uniqueness problems on meromorphic functions sharing nonzero finite value or having fixed points. Our results extend the corresponding results of Fang and Hua, Yang and Hua, and Fang and Qiu. MSC 2010: 30D35, 30D30.
The fungal T-2 toxin alters the activation of primary macrophages induced by TLR-agonists resulting in a decrease of the inflammatory response in the pig
Authors: Seeboth Julie , Solinhac Romain , Oswald Isabelle P , Guzylack-Piriou Laurence 
Published: April 2012

AbstractT-2 toxin is known to be one of the most toxic trichothecene mycotoxins. Exposure to T-2 toxin induces many hematologic and immunotoxic disorders and is involved in immuno-modulation of the innate immune response. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of T-2 toxin on the activation of macrophages by different agonists of Toll-like receptors (TLR) using an in vitro model of primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAM). Cytotoxic effects of T-2 toxin on PAM were first evaluated. An IC50of 19.47 ± 0.9753 nM was determined for the cytotoxicity of T-2 toxin. A working concentration of 3 nM of T-2 toxin was chosen to test the effect of T-2 toxin on TLR activation; this dose was not cytotoxic and did not induce apoptosis as demonstrated by Annexin/PI staining. A pre-exposure of macrophages to 3 nM of T-2 toxin decreased the production of inflammatory mediators (IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, nitric oxide) in response to LPS and FSL1, TLR4 and TLR2/6 agonists respectively. The decrease of the pro-inflammatory response is associated with a decrease of TLR mRNA expression. By contrast, the activation of TLR7 by ssRNA was not modulated by T-2 toxin pre-treatment. In conclusion, our results suggest that ingestion of low concentrations of T-2 toxin affects the TLR activation by decreasing pattern recognition of pathogens and thus interferes with initiation of inflammatory immune response against bacteria and viruses. Consequently, mycotoxins could increase the susceptibility of humans and animals to infectious diseases.
A comparison of feature selection and classification methods in DNA methylation studies using the Illumina Infinium platform
Authors: Zhuang Joanna , Widschwendter Martin , Teschendorff Andrew E 
Published: April 2012

AbstractBackgroundThe 27k Illumina Infinium Methylation Beadchip is a popular high-throughput technology that allows the methylation state of over 27,000 CpGs to be assayed. While feature selection and classification methods have been comprehensively explored in the context of gene expression data, relatively little is known as to how best to perform feature selection or classification in the context of Illumina Infinium methylation data. Given the rising importance of epigenomics in cancer and other complex genetic diseases, and in view of the upcoming epigenome wide association studies, it is critical to identify the statistical methods that offer improved inference in this novel context.ResultsUsing a total of 7 large Illumina Infinium 27k Methylation data sets, encompassing over 1,000 samples from a wide range of tissues, we here provide an evaluation of popular feature selection, dimensional reduction and classification methods on DNA methylation data. Specifically, we evaluate the effects of variance filtering, supervised principal components (SPCA) and the choice of DNA methylation quantification measure on downstream statistical inference. We show that for relatively large sample sizes feature selection using test statistics is similar for M and β-values, but that in the limit of small sample sizes, M-values allow more reliable identification of true positives. We also show that the effect of variance filtering on feature selection is study-specific and dependent on the phenotype of interest and tissue type profiled. Specifically, we find that variance filtering improves the detection of true positives in studies with large effect sizes, but that it may lead to worse performance in studies with smaller yet significant effect sizes. In contrast, supervised principal components improves the statistical power, especially in studies with small effect sizes. We also demonstrate that classification using the Elastic Net and Support Vector Machine (SVM) clearly outperforms competing methods like LASSO and SPCA. Finally, in unsupervised modelling of cancer diagnosis, we find that non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF) clearly outperforms principal components analysis.ConclusionsOur results highlight the importance of tailoring the feature selection and classification methodology to the sample size and biological context of the DNA methylation study. The Elastic Net emerges as a powerful classification algorithm for large-scale DNA methylation studies, while NMF does well in the unsupervised context. The insights presented here will be useful to any study embarking on large-scale DNA methylation profiling using Illumina Infinium beadarrays.
A framework genetic map for Miscanthus sinensis from RNAseq-based markers shows recent tetraploidy
Authors: Swaminathan Kankshita , Chae Won Byoung , Mitros Therese , Varala Kranthi , Xie Liang , Barling Adam , Glowacka Katarzyna , Hall Megan , Jezowski Stanislaw , Ming Ray , Hudson Matthew , Juvik John A , Rokhsar Daniel S , Moose Stephen P 
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Background

Miscanthus (subtribe Saccharinae, tribe Andropogoneae, family Poaceae) is a genus of temperate perennial C4 grasses whose high biomass production makes it, along with its close relatives sugarcane and sorghum, attractive as a biofuel feedstock. The base chromosome number of Miscanthus (x = 19) is different from that of other Saccharinae and approximately twice that of the related Sorghum bicolor (x = 10), suggesting large-scale duplications may have occurred in recent ancestors of Miscanthus. Owing to the complexity of the Miscanthus genome and the complications of self-incompatibility, a complete genetic map with a high density of markers has not yet been developed.

Results
We used deep transcriptome sequencing (RNAseq) from two M. sinensis accessions to define 1536 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) for a GoldenGate™ genotyping array, and found that simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers defined in sugarcane are often informative in M. sinensis. A total of 658 SNP and 210 SSR markers were validated via segregation in a full sibling F1 mapping population. Using 221 progeny from this mapping population, we constructed a genetic map for M. sinensis that resolves into 19 linkage groups, the haploid chromosome number expected from cytological evidence. Comparative genomic analysis documents a genome-wide duplication in Miscanthus relative to Sorghum bicolor, with subsequent insertional fusion of a pair of chromosomes. The utility of the map is confirmed by the identification of two paralogous C4-pyruvate, phosphate dikinase (C4-PPDK) loci in Miscanthus, at positions syntenic to the single orthologous gene in Sorghum.

Conclusions
The genus Miscanthus experienced an ancestral tetraploidy and chromosome fusion prior to its diversification, but after its divergence from the closely related sugarcane clade. The recent timing of this tetraploidy complicates discovery and mapping of genetic markers for Miscanthus species, since alleles and fixed differences between paralogs are comparable. These difficulties can be overcome by careful analysis of segregation patterns in a mapping population and genotyping of doubled haploids. The genetic map for Miscanthus will be useful in biological discovery and breeding efforts to improve this emerging biofuel crop, and also provide a valuable resource for understanding genomic responses to tetraploidy and chromosome fusion.
Isolation and biological activity of triglycerides of the fermented mushroom of Coprinus Comatus
Authors: Ren Jun , Shi Jin-Li , Han Chun-Chao , Liu Zhen-Quan , Guo Jian-You 
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Background
Although many physiological functions of Coprinus comatus have been reported, there has been no report on the antinociceptive activity of Coprinus comatus. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to demonstrate the production, isolation, and biological properties of triglycerides (TFC) of the fermented mushroom of Coprinus comatus.

Methods
The effects of TFC on cytokines levels, total antioxidant activity, antinociceptive effects in vivo, LD50 and tactile hyperalgesia were analyzed respectively.

Results
TFC treatment decreased the levels of cytokines and total antioxidant status (TAOS) and inhibited the acetic acid-induced abdominal constrictions in mice. In addition, TFC reduced CFA-induced tactile hyperalgesia in a dose-dependent manner and the LD50 of TFC was determined to be 400 mg/kg. However, TFC did not significantly inhibit the reaction time to thermal stimuli in the hot-plate test.

Conclusions
TFC showed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, peripheral antinociceptive and antihyperalgesic activity in various models of inflammatory pain. The data suggest that TFC may be a viable treatment option for inflammatory pain.
Open semantic annotation of scientific publications using DOMEO
Authors: Ciccarese Paolo , Ocana Marco , Clark Tim 
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Background
Our group has developed a useful shared software framework for performing, versioning, sharing and viewing Web annotations of a number of kinds, using an open representation model.

Methods
The Domeo Annotation Tool was developed in tandem with this open model, the Annotation Ontology (AO). Development of both the Annotation Framework and the open model was driven by requirements of several different types of alpha users, including bench scientists and biomedical curators from university research labs, online scientific communities, publishing and pharmaceutical companies.
Several use cases were incrementally implemented by the toolkit. These use cases in biomedical communications include personal note-taking, group document annotation, semantic tagging, claim-evidence-context extraction, reagent tagging, and curation of textmining results from entity extraction algorithms.

Results
We report on the Domeo user interface here. Domeo has been deployed in beta release as part of the NIH Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF, http://www.neuinfo.org) and is scheduled for production deployment in the NIF’s next full release.
Future papers will describe other aspects of this work in detail, including Annotation Framework Services and components for integrating with external textmining services, such as the NCBO Annotator web service, and with other textmining applications using the Apache UIMA framework.
Organ preservation using a photosynthetic solution
Authors: Yamaoka Ippei , Kikuchi Takeshi , Arata Tomohiro , Kobayashi Eiji 
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Background
Organs harvested from a body lapsing into circulatory deficit are exposed to low O2/high CO2, and reach a critical point where original functionality after transplantation is unlikely. The present study evaluates the effect of respiratory assistance using Chlorella photosynthesis on preservation of the rat pancreas from the viewpoint of donation after cardiac death (DCD).

Methods
Gas was exchanged through the peritoneum of rats under controlled ventilation with or without Chlorella photosynthetic respiratory assistance. A gas permeable pouch containing Chlorella in solution was placed in the peritoneum and then the space between the pouch and the peritoneum was filled with an emulsified perfluorocarbon gas carrier. Rat DCD pancreases procured 3 h after cardiac arrest were preserved for 30 min in a cold or mildly hypothermic environment or in a mildly hypothermic environment with photosynthetic respiratory support. The pancreases were then heterotopically transplanted into rats with STZ-induced diabetes.

Results
Levels of blood oxygen (PaO2) and carbon dioxide (PaCO2) increased and significantly decreased, respectively, in rats with mechanically reduced ventilation and rats given intraperitoneal photosynthetic respiratory support when compared with those without such support. Transplantation with DCD pancreases that had been stored under photosynthetic respiratory support resulted in the survival of all rats, which is impossible to achieve using pancreases that have been maintained statically in cold storage.

Conclusion
Respiratory assistance using photosynthesis helps to improve not only blood gas status in the event of respiratory insufficiency, but also graft recovery after pancreas transplantation with a DCD pancreas that has been damaged by prolonged warm ischemia.
Doctors who considered but did not pursue specific clinical specialties as careers: questionnaire surveys
Authors: Goldacre Michael J , Goldacre Raph , Lambert Trevor W 
Published: April 2012

Objectives To report doctors' rejection of specialties as long-term careers and reasons for rejection. Design Postal questionnaires. Setting United Kingdom. Participants Graduates of 2002, 2005 and 2008 from all UK medical schools, surveyed one year after qualification. Main outcome measures Current specialty choice; any choice that had been seriously considered but not pursued (termed ‘rejected’ choices) with reasons for rejection. Results 2573 of 9155 respondents (28%) had seriously considered but then not pursued a specialty choice. By comparison with positive choices, general practice was under-represented among rejected choices: it was the actual choice of 27% of respondents and the rejected choice of only 6% of those who had rejected a specialty. Consideration of ‘job content’ was important in not pursuing general practice (cited by 78% of those who considered but rejected a career in general practice), psychiatry (72%), radiology (69%) and pathology (68%). The surgical specialties were the current choice of 20% of respondents and had been considered but rejected by 32% of doctors who rejected a specialty. Issues of work-life balance were the single most common factor, particularly for women, in not pursuing the surgical specialties, emergency medicine, the medical hospital specialties, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology. Competition for posts, difficult examinations, stressful working conditions, and poor training were mentioned but were mainly minority concerns. Conclusions There is considerable diversity between doctors in their reasons for finding specialties attractive or unattractive. This underlines the importance of recruitment strategies to medical school that recognize diversity of students' interests and aptitudes.
Glaciar Jorge Montt (Chilean Patagonia) dynamics derived from photos obtained by fixed cameras and satellite image feature tracking
Authors: Rivera Andrés , Corripio Javier , Bravo Claudio , Cisternas Sebastián 
Published: April 2012

AbstractTidewater calving glaciers can undergo large fluctuations not necessarily in direct response to climate, but rather owing to complex ice–water interactions at the glacier termini. One example of this process in Chilean Patagonia is Glaciar Jorge Montt, where two cameras were installed in February 2010, collecting up to four glacier photographs per day, until they were recovered on 22 January 2011. Ice velocities were derived from feature tracking of the geo-referenced photos, yielding a mean value of 13 ±4 md–1 for the whole lower part of the glacier. These velocities were compared to satellite-imagery-derived feature tracking obtained in February 2010, resulting in similar values. During the operational period of the cameras, the glacier continued to retreat (1 km), experiencing one of the highest calving fluxes ever recorded in Patagonia (2.4 km3 a–1). Comparison with previous data also revealed ice acceleration in recent years. These very high velocities are clearly a response to enhanced glacier calving activity into a deep water fjord.
Intracytoplasmic Morphologically selected Sperm Injection vs Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection: A Retrospective Analysis
Authors: Dalal Rutvij Jay , Palshetkar Nandita P , Mishra Akanksha P 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to determine the efficacy of using the technique of intracytoplasm morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) as compared to the conventionally used intracytoplasmic sperm injection ((ICSI) procedure. IMSI, as the name suggests, is the technique of selecting the most normal looking sperm by magnifying it to about 7200 times. A total of 192 patients who underwent the treatment ofin vitrofertilization (IVF) with us by either one of the two procedures of IMSI or ICSI over a period of 18 months were included in the study. Out of these 92 were included in the IMSI group while 100 others in the ICSI group according to our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pregnancy rate among patients who underwent IMSI was found to be significantly higher (52.1%) as compared to those with ICSI (36%). Furthermore, even the implantation rates were higher in the IMSI group (30.12%) than the ICSI (19.93%) group.
Phocomelia: An Extremely Rare Congenital Disorder involving the Limbs (Dysmelia)
Authors: Shekokar Sunita Pawar , Shah Tasneem , Chandana C 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT
Phocomelia—phoco(seal), melia(limbs)—is a rare congenital deformity in which hands or feet are attached close to the trunk, the limbs being grossly underdeveloped or absent. The babies are born with limbs that look like flippers on a seal. The two main etiological factors of phocomelia are genetic inheritance and use of the drug thalidomide. Here, we present a case of phocomelia in second gravida without exposure to thalidomide.