bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis in Japan: Prognosis and Therapy
Authors: Horie Yoshinori , Ishii Hiromasa , Hibi Toshifumi 
Published: December 2010

Abstract: Background: Recently, the incidence of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) has been increasing in Japan; this associated with an increase in alcoholic beverage consumption. Multiple organ failures are frequently observed in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH), most of whom have a poor prognosis similar to fulminant hepatitis; as well numbers of severe AH patients appear to be increasing. Although prognosis of fulminant hepatitis in Japan has been recently improved by intensive treatments such as plasma exchange (PE) that of severe AH has not changed. The objective of this study was to determine whether there was any factor that could determine the prognosis of severe AHMethods: We carried out nation‐wide survey by asking hospitals certified by the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology and hospitals related to ours hospital for the current status of patients seen with severe alcoholic hepatitis since 1998. We investigated correlations between various factors including blood laboratory data, presence of other organ failure, and prognosisResults: Mortality of patients with severe AH was high (66.4%). The ratio of female patients with severe AH (26%) was higher than that for other ALD (approximately 10%). Mean age was older (Alive: 44 ± 11; Dead: 50 ± 11 years old), white blood cell (WBC) counts were higher (11600 ± 5200; 21800 ± 13400/μl), red blood cell counts were lower (320 ± 95; 265 ± 72 × 104/μl) and prothrombin time (PT) was prolonged (36.2 ± 10.4; 29.1 ± 9.4%, respectively) in patients who had died than in patients who had survived. However, as all differences diminished after carrying out PE, we analyzed data in patients without PE. The results were similar to those in all patients. Prevalence of infection, gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was higher in patients who had died. Although intensive treatments such as PE, hemodialysis, and anticoagulation therapy did not change the prognosis of severe AH, PE improved the prognosis of patients without either GI bleeding or DIC. WBC counts were also slightly higher in patients who had died after carrying out PE. Two cases had been cured by granulocytapheresis (GCAP)Conclusions: PE can compensate for and reduce the risk due to prolonged PT in patients with severe AH. These results suggest that the patients with markedly elevated WBC counts, prolonged PT, or anemia should, if possible, be treated at an earlier stage with an intensive treatment such as PE, hemodialysis, or anticoagulation therapy before infection, GI bleeding or DIC occurs. Further, GCAP might be useful for severe AH patients with higher WBC counts.
Collaborative learning with a wiki: Differences in perceived usefulness in two contexts of use
Authors: Naismith L. , Lee B.‐H. , Pilkington R.M. 
Published: December 2010

AbstractThis paper investigates the potential of a wiki (FlexWiki) to support collaborative authoring of web resources in authentic coursework by two different sets of education students at different stages of their professional development. Research questions included: (1) how the selected wiki could be blended with curriculum activities and existing technologies to complete collaborative tasks; (2) student and tutor expectations concerning collaborative learning and whether these expectations were met; (3) the barriers and enablers of using the wiki and perceptions of the task‐technology fit. Key findings included that tutors and students were able to use the wiki to complete tasks; tutors and students were positive about learning outcomes but collaboration was not as co‐constructive as hoped for; there were tensions between expectations of collaboration and assessment practices that affected how students collaborated; differences between participants in their group interaction, degree of co‐presence and familiarity with technology led to differences in perceptions of usefulness and actual wiki use; and version‐tracking data from the wiki proved unreliable on its own for gaining insights into actual collaborative processes. These findings suggest the importance of considering detailed local contexts of use when deciding to adopt new tools for supporting collaboration.
Trophic mediation by a fungus in an ant–plant mutualism
Authors: Leroy Céline , Séjalon‐Delmas Nathalie , Jauneau Alain , Ruiz‐González Mario‐Xavier , Gryta Hervé , Jargeat Patricia , Corbara Bruno , Dejean Alain , Orivel Jérôme 
Published: December 2010

Summary1. Plants often rely on external, mutualistic partners to survive and reproduce in resource‐limited environments or for protection from enemies. Such interactions, including mycorrhizal symbioses and ant–plant associations, are widespread and play an important role at the ecosystem and community levels. In ant–plant mutualisms, the plants may benefit from both the protection provided by the presence of ants and from the nutrients absorbed from insect debris. However, the role of third partners in plant nutrition, particularly ant‐associated fungi, has never before been demonstrated.2. We investigate this issue in the ant–plantHirtella physophora. In this model system,Allomerus decemarticulatusants are involved in two, highly specific interactions: first, with their host plant, and, secondly, with a fungus that they actively manipulate. Moreover, the ants combine both plant trichomes and fungal hyphae to make a trap to capture prey.3. We empirically demonstrate the existence of a third type of interaction between the fungus and the plant through the use of both experimental enrichments with stable isotopes (15N) and histological approaches. The fungus growing in the galleries plays a role in providing nutrients to the host plant, in addition to the structural role it plays for the ants. Fungus‐facilitated nitrogen uptake occurs mainly in old domatia, where abundant hyphae are in close contact with the plant cells. Whether the fungi inside the domatia and those in the galleries are the same is still uncertain.4. Synthesis.Together, our results show that a fungal partner in an ant–plant mutualism can benefit the plant by improving its nutrient uptake, and they demonstrate the existence of a true tripartite mutualism in this system. Our results add further evidence to the notion that interpretations of some ant–plant symbioses as purely protective mutualisms have overlooked these nutritional aspects.
Genetic mapping of the interface between the ArsD metallochaperone and the ArsA ATPase
Authors: Yang Jianbo , Abdul Salam Abdul Ajees , Rosen Barry P. 
Published: December 2010

SummaryThe ArsD metallochaperone delivers trivalent metalloids, As(III) or Sb(III), to the ArsA ATPase, the catalytic subunit of the ArsAB As(III) efflux pump. Transfer of As(III) increases the affinity of ArsA for As(III), allowing resistance to environmental arsenic concentrations. As(III) transfer is channelled from chaperone to ATPase, implying that ArsD and ArsA form an interface at their metal binding sites. A genetic approach was used to test this hypothesis. Thirteen ArsD mutants exhibiting either weaker or stronger interaction with ArsA were selected by either repressed transactivator yeast two‐hybrid or reverse yeast two‐hybrid assays. Additionally, Lys‐37 and Lys‐62 were identified as being involved in ArsD function by site‐directed mutagenesis and chemical modification. Substitution at either position with arginine was tolerated, suggesting participation of a positive charge. By yeast two‐hybrid analysis K37A and K62A mutants lost interaction with ArsA. All 15 mutations were mapped on the surface of the ArsD structure, and their locations are consistent with a structural model generated by in silico docking. Four are close to metalloid binding site residues Cys‐12, Cys‐13 and Cys‐18, and seven are on the surface of helix 1. These results suggest that the interface involves one surface of helix 1 and the metalloid binding site.
SAP1 is a critical post‐transcriptional regulator of infectivity in malaria parasite sporozoite stages
Authors: Aly Ahmed S. I. , Lindner Scott E. , MacKellar Drew C. , Peng Xinxia , Kappe Stefan H. I. 
Published: December 2010

Summary Plasmodium salivary gland sporozoites upregulate expression of a unique subset of genes, collectively called the UIS (upregulated in infectious sporozoites). Many UIS were shown to be essential for early liver stage development, although little is known about their regulation. We previously identified a conserved sporozoite‐specific protein, SAP1, which has an essential role in Plasmodium liver infection. Targeted deletion of SAP1 in Plasmodium yoelii caused the depletion of a number of selectively tested UIS transcripts in sporozoites, resulting in a complete early liver stage arrest. Here, we use a global gene expression survey to more comprehensively identify transcripts that are affected by SAP1 deletion. We find an effect upon both the transcript abundance of UIS genes, as well as of select genes previously not grouped as UIS. Importantly, we show that the lack of SAP1 causes the specific degradation of these transcripts. Collectively, our data suggest that SAP1 is involved in a selective post‐transcriptional mechanism to regulate the abundance of transcripts critical to the infectivity of sporozoites. Although Pysap1‐ sporozoites are depleted of many of these important transcripts, they confer long‐lasting sterile protection against wild‐type sporozoite challenge in mice. SAP1 is therefore an appealing candidate locus for attenuation of Plasmodium falciparum.
Defence responses in plantation‐grown Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus nitens after artificial fungal inoculation
Authors: Deflorio G. , Franz E. , Beadle C. , Mohammed C. 
Published: December 2010

SummaryThe formation of reaction and barrier zones was studied in the xylem of Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus nitens tree stems after wounding and artificial inoculation with two white rot fungi. The study had two objectives: to describe host responses in Eucalyptus spp. by light microscopy and to determine whether they would differ in a fungal treatment (wounding and inoculation by one of two fungal isolates) when compared to a control treatment (wounding only). Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens developed similar reaction and barrier zones. The E. globulus barrier zone was characterized by kino vein formation. In both hosts, the reaction zone was primarily influenced by content and distribution of living tracheids and parenchyma cells within the sapwood. By contrast, the anatomy of the barrier zone showed similarities to the basic xylem structure of each host, except for some cell types that were newly formed (sclereids, kino veins) or increased in number (parenchyma cells, tracheids). Other cell types were reduced in number or completely absent. Host response in terms of barrier zone width appeared to be greater in the fungal than control treatment. Both wood decay fungi appeared to induce a wider barrier zone in both species than that associated with non‐specific damage caused exclusively by wounding. However, the small number of replicates available for this study was possibly insufficient to provide statistical evidence for different barrier zone width between fungal and control treatments.
Study of the Efficiency of Chemically Assisted Enucleation Method for Handmade Cloning in Goat (Capra hircus)
Authors: Akshey YS , Malakar D , De AK , Jena MK , Sahu S , Dutta R 
Published: December 2010

ContentsThe present investigation was carried out to find an efficient chemically assisted procedure for enucleation of goat oocytes related to handmade cloning (HMC) technique. After 22‐h in vitro maturation, oocytes were incubated with 0.5 μg/ml demecolcine for 2 h. Cumulus cells were removed by pipetting and vortexing in 0.5 mg/ml hyaluronidase, and zona pellucida were digested with pronase. Oocytes with extrusion cones were subjected to oriented bisection. One‐third of the cytoplasm with the extrusion cone was removed with a micro blade. The remaining cytoplasts were used as recipients in HMC. Goat foetal fibroblasts were used as nuclear donors. The overall efficiency measured as the number of cytoplasts obtained per total number of oocytes used was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in chemically assisted handmade enucleation (CAHE) than oriented handmade enucleation without demecolcine (OHE) (80.02 ± 1.292% vs. 72.9 ± 1.00%, respectively, mean ± SEM). The reconstructed and activated embryos were cultured in embryo development medium (EDM) for 7 days. Fusion, cleavage and blastocyst development rate were 71.63 ± 1.95%, 92.94 ± 0.91% and 23.78 ± 3.33% (mean ± SEM), respectively which did not differ significantly from those achieved with random handmade enucleation and OHE. In conclusion, chemically assisted enucleation is a highly efficient and reliable enucleation method for goat HMC which eliminates the need of expensive equipment (inverted fluorescence microscope) and potentially harmful chromatin staining and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for cytoplast selection.
MORAL ENHANCEMENT AND FREEDOM
Authors: HARRIS JOHN 
Published: December 2010

ABSTRACTThis paper identifies human enhancement as one of the most significant areas of bioethical interest in the last twenty years. It discusses in more detail one area, namely moral enhancement, which is generating significant contemporary interest. The author argues that so far from being susceptible to new forms of high tech manipulation, either genetic, chemical, surgical or neurological, the only reliable methods of moral enhancement, either now or for the foreseeable future, are either those that have been in human and animal use for millennia, namely socialization, education and parental supervision or those high tech methods that are general in their application. By that is meant those forms of cognitive enhancement that operate across a wide range of cognitive abilities and do not target specifically ‘ethical’ capacities. The paper analyses the work of some of the leading contemporary advocates of moral enhancement and finds that in so far as they identify moral qualities or moral emotions for enhancement they have little prospect of success.
A TRINITARIAN GRAMMAR OF SIN
Authors: McDOUGALL JOY ANN 
Published: December 2010

AbstractThis essay offers a critical reading of David Kelsey's hamartiology in Eccentric Existence. I elucidate Kelsey's “trinitarian grammar of sin,” which charts how human lives characteristically “miss the mark” of God's creating, consummating, and reconciling ways of relating to us. Kelsey uses this dynamic pattern of divine relating to illuminate the appropriate responses of the Christian life—faith, hope, and love—and their fundamental distortions. I commend three major contributions of Kelsey's hamartiology: his parsing of the relationship between sin and moral evil, his overturning of modernity's anthropocentric paradigm of sin, and his reconstruction of original sin. I conclude with three clusters of questions relating to: first, Kelsey's root paradigm of sin as idolatry, second, his use of impurity and stain language to describe original sin, and third, what is at stake in crafting theological anthropology in the analytical style of Eccentric Existence.
“EARLY CHRISTIAN BINITARIANISM”: FROM RELIGIOUS PHENOMENON TO POLEMICAL INSULT TO SCHOLARLY CONCEPT
Authors: BUCUR BOGDAN G. 
Published: December 2010

AbstractThis article discusses the use of “binitarianism” and related concepts in the study of early Christian writings. A survey of past and present uses of “binitarian monotheism” reveals that there are at least two quite distinct uses of this term, developed in distinct scholarly contexts, each informed by specific theological presuppositions, and assuming specific theological agendas. A certain discrepancy becomes evident between the early Christian phenomenon termed “binitarianism” and its scholarly description. These observations make it necessary to ask whether the flaws of this concept outweigh its usefulness for scholarly reconstructions of early Christian thought.
The identification ofN‐glycosylated residues of the human 5‐HT3B receptor subunit: importance for cell membrane expression
Authors: Massoura Andrew N. , Dover Terri J. , Newman Amy S. , Barnes Nicholas M. 
Published: December 2010

J. Neurochem.(2011)116, 975–983.AbstractThe 5‐hydroxytryptamine 3 (5‐HT3) receptor is a pentameric ligand‐gated ion channel with potential molecular isoforms arising from different subunit combinations and/or different post‐translational modifications of the individual subunits. SinceN‐glycosylation of the 5‐HT3A subunit impacts cell surface trafficking, the presence ofN‐glycosylation of the human (h) 5‐HT3B subunit and the influence upon cell membrane expression was investigated. Following transient expression of the h5‐HT3B subunit by human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293 cells) stably expressing the h5‐HT3A subunit, theN‐glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin reduced the size of the predominant h5‐HT3B‐immunoreactive protein (∼ 55 kDa reduced to ∼ 40 kDa). Disruption of each consensusN‐glycosylation sequences in the h5‐HT3B subunit (N31S, N75S, N117S, N147S and N182S) resulted in a reduced molecular weight (by ∼ 2–4 kDa) of each mutant when expressed by HEK293 cells stably expressing the h5‐HT3A subunit. Immunocytochemical studies demonstrated that disruption of each of theN‐glycosylation sequences (individually or combined) reduced the expression of the mutant h5‐HT3B subunit protein in the cell membrane when co‐expressed with the h5‐HT3A subunit. The present study has identified utilisedN‐glycosylation sites of the h5‐HT3B subunit and demonstrated that they promote subunit expression in the cell membrane; a prerequisite for 5‐HT3receptor function.
Deficiency of prohormone convertase dPC2 (AMONTILLADO) results in impaired production of bioactive neuropeptide hormones in Drosophila
Authors: Wegener Christian , Herbert Henrik , Kahnt Jörg , Bender Michael , Rhea Jeanne M. 
Published: December 2010

J. Neurochem. (2011) 118, 581–595.AbstractPeptide hormones synthesized by secretory neurons in the CNS are important regulators of physiology, behavior, and development. Like other neuropeptides, they are synthesized from larger precursor molecules by a specific set of enzymes. Using a combination of neurogenetics, immunostainings, and direct mass spectrometric profiling, we show that the presence of Drosophila prohormone convertase 2 encoded by the gene amontillado (amon) is a prerequisite for the proper processing of neuropeptide hormones from the major neurohemal organs of the CNS. A loss of amon correlates with a loss of neuropeptide hormone signals from the larval ring gland and perisympathetic organs. Neuropeptide hormone signals were still detectable in the adult corpora cardiaca of older amon‐deficient flies which were amon heat‐shock‐rescued until eclosion. A semiquantification by direct peptide profiling using stable isotopic standards showed, however, that their neuropeptide hormone levels are strongly reduced. Targeted expression of GFP under the control of amon regulatory regions revealed a co‐localization with the investigated peptide hormones in secretory neurons of the brain and ventral nerve cord. The lack of AMON activity resulted in a deficiency of L3 larva to enter the wandering phase. In conclusion, our findings provide the first direct evidence that AMON is a key enzyme in the production of neuropeptides in the fruitfly.
A framework for an efficient implementation of logistics collaborations
Authors: Audy Jean‐François , Lehoux Nadia , D'Amours Sophie , Rönnqvist Mikael 
Published: December 2010

AbstractIn order to beat the competition, access new markets, and respect operational, social, and environmental constraints, enterprises establish collaborations with many other business entities. Furthermore, with costs and information sharing, organizations have the opportunity to optimize their logistics activities. However, each enterprise has its own objectives and typically makes its own planning decisions to meet these objectives. Therefore, it becomes crucial to determine how business entities will work together as well as the value of the collaboration. Specifically, it is necessary to identify how logistics activities will be planned and executed, who will take the leadership of the collaboration, and how benefits will be shared. In this article, we explain how to efficiently build and manage inter‐firm relationships. Moreover, we propose five coordination mechanisms that contribute to ensure information sharing, the coordination of logistics activities, and the sharing of benefits. Case studies are used to demonstrate the utility of the framework.
Compliance with leisure‐time physical activity recommendations in pregnant women
Authors: AMEZCUA‐PRIETO CARMEN , LARDELLI‐CLARET PABLO , OLMEDO‐REQUENA ROCÍO , MOZAS‐MORENO JUAN , BUENO‐CAVANILLAS AURORA , JIMÉNEZ‐MOLEÓN JOSÉ J. 
Published: December 2010

Abstract Objective. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and factors associated with the performance of minimal beneficial leisure‐time physical activity in the first half of pregnancy according to the criteria of the American College of Sport and Medicine (ACSM) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Material and methods. This was a cross‐sectional study carried out at the Maternal and Neonatal University Hospital in Granada, which services the whole population of the hospital reference area. We studied 1,175 healthy pregnant women aged over 18 years. Information about sociodemographics, lifestyles, obstetric antecedents and anthropometric variables were collected. The amount of leisure‐time physical activity was quantified by assigning metabolic equivalents to each activity. The ACSM and ACOG criteria were used to define optimal physical activity in the first half of pregnancy. The frequency of compliance for both criteria was estimated. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to study the factors associated with the recommendations. Results. Only 20.3% (95% confidence interval 15.50–26.10) of the women complied with ACOG criteria. More women complied with ACSM recommendations (70.8%, 95% confidence interval 67.5–73.8), which are less restrictive criteria. Women aged 30 years old or older and those with a university degree tended to devote more time to exercising according to both recommendations. Conclusion. The prevalence of pregnant women who performed minimal beneficial leisure‐time physical activity was lower with the dominant and more accepted criteria. It is necessary to encourage physical activity, mainly among those who are younger, and those with lower levels of educational attainment.