bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rapid determination of syringyl: Guaiacyl ratios using FT‐Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Sun Lan , Varanasi Patanjali , Yang Fan , Loqué Dominique , Simmons Blake A. , Singh Seema 
Published: October 2011

AbstractLignin composition in relation to its basic phenylpropanoid units, particularly the syringyl to guaiacyl (S/G) ratio, is an important property for biomass characterization and varies greatly as a function of species, genotype and environment. A rapid screening method is highly desirable to assess lignin composition in a large number of samples. We have developed a nondestructive and label‐free Fourier transform Raman (FT‐Raman) spectroscopic method that is capable of rapidly and reliably measuring the S/G ratio with minimal sample preparation. A variety of feedstocks, including hardwood (Eucalyptus globulus), softwood (Pinus radiata), herbaceous plants (Zea mays, Panicum virgatum, and Sorghum bicolor), and a model dicot (Arabidopsis thaliana) were measured using this technique and the corresponding S/G ratio was calculated after spectral deconvolution based on the S and G bands identified using a known library of model compounds. The results obtained using this technique were successfully validated by pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (pyro‐GC/MS). This technique holds significant promise in the rapid screening of engineered feedstocks as part of a comprehensive screening methodology that is correlated with biomass recalcitrance. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:647–656. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Value of hepatic venous pressure gradient measurement before liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Stremitzer S , Tamandl D , Kaczirek K , Maresch J , Abbasov B , Payer B A , Ferlitsch A , Gruenberger T 
Published: October 2011

AbstractBackgroundPortal hypertension associated with liver cirrhosis increases the risk of postoperative complications after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the role of preoperative hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) assessment in identifying portal hypertension.MethodsAll patients who underwent liver resection for HCC between January 2000 and December 2009 at the Department of General Surgery, Medical University Vienna, were analysed retrospectively. HVPG was assessed prospectively in a subset of patients before liver resection. The influence of this assessment on postoperative complications was investigated.ResultsA total of 132 patients were enrolled, of whom 39 underwent HVPG measurement. Mean(s.d.) HVPG was 6·4(3·0) and 4·3(1·4) mmHg in patients with and without postoperative complications respectively (P = 0·028). Complication rates differed significantly at a cut-off HVPG value of 5 mmHg: 11 of 21 patients with a gradient of 1–5 mmHg developed complications versus 12 of 14 patients with a higher value (P = 0·045). HVPG exceeding 5 mmHg was associated with worse liver fibrosis (P = 0·004), higher rates of postoperative liver dysfunction (5 of 13 versus 1 of 18; P = 0·022) and ascites (7 of 14 versus 3 of 21; P = 0·022), and a longer hospital stay (median (range) 11 (7–26) versus 8 (4–20) days; P = 0·034). Overall postoperative morbidity did not differ between patients who had preoperative HVPG assessment and those who did not (P = 0·142).ConclusionPreoperative HVPG assessment predicted liver fibrosis and postoperative complications.
Mixed handedness is associated with greater age‐related decline in volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala: the PATH through life study
Authors: Cherbuin Nicolas , Sachdev Perminder S. , Anstey Kaarin J. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractHandedness has been found to be associated with structural and functional cerebral differences. Left handedness and mixed handedness also appear to be associated with an elevated risk of some developmental and immunological disorders that may contribute to pathological processes developing in ageing. Inconsistent reports show that left handedness may be more prevalent in early‐onset as well as late‐onset Alzheimer's disease, but might also be associated with slower decline. Such inconsistencies may be due to handedness being usually modeled as a binary construct while substantial evidence suggests it to be a continuous trait. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between brain structures known to be implicated in pathological ageing and strength and direction of handedness. The association between handedness and hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy was investigated in 327 cognitively healthy older individuals. Handedness was measured with the Edinburgh Inventory. Two measures were computed from this index, one reflecting the direction (left = 0/right = 1) and the other the degree of handedness (ranging from 0 to 1). Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were manually traced on scans acquired 4 years apart. Regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between strength and direction of handedness and incident hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy. Analyses showed that strength but not direction of handedness was a significant predictor of hippocampal (Left: beta = 0.118, P= 0.013; Right: beta = 0.116, P= 0.010) and amygdalar (Right: beta = 0.105, P= 0.040) atrophy. The present findings suggest that mixed but not left handedness is associated with greater hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy. This effect may be due to genetic, environmental, or behavioural differences that will need further investigation in future studies.
NMR Spectroscopic Investigations of the Activated p38α Mitogen‐Activated Protein Kinase
Authors: Nielsen Gerd , Schwalbe Harald 
Published: October 2011

AbstractPhosphorylation of protein kinases is a central mechanism involved in numerous cellular regulatory circuits, both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. An understanding of the structural and functional consequences of protein phosphorylation is of considerable importance for the design of selective, small‐molecule kinase inhibitors. NMR spectroscopy is a central method to support structure‐based drug design. Here, we present the NMR assignment of the activated p38α kinase and compare it to the NMR assignment of unphosphorylated p38α. Conformational changes in solution induced by activation can be located to the activation loop, an adjacent loop, and an insert part of the polypeptide chain that is specific for the family of mitogen‐activated kinases. Deuterium‐exchange experiments additionally revealed differences in exchange behavior for two residues in an alanine‐rich helix–loop motif that becomes more flexible upon binding of an ATP analogue and a substrate peptide.
Identification of a Catalytic Base for Sugar Oxidation in the Pyranose 2‐Oxidase Reaction
Authors: Wongnate Thanyaporn , Sucharitakul Jeerus , Chaiyen Pimchai 
Published: October 2011

AbstractPyranose 2‐oxidase (P2O) catalyzes the oxidation of aldopyranoses to form 2‐keto sugars and H2O2. In this study, the mechanistic role of the conserved residues His548 and Asn593 in P2O was investigated by using site‐directed mutagenesis, transient kinetics, and pH‐dependence studies. As single mutants of H548 resulted in mixed populations of noncovalently bound and covalently linked FAD, double mutants containing H167A were constructed, in which the covalent histidyl‐FAD linkage was removed in addition to having the H548 mutation. Single mutants H548A, H548N, H548S, H548D and double mutants (with H167A) could not be reduced by D‐glucose. For the H167A/H548R mutant, the flavin could be reduced by D‐glucose with the reduction rate constant about 220 times lower than that of the H167A mutant. The pH‐dependence studies of H167A/H548R indicated that the rate constant of flavin reduction increased about 360‐fold upon a pH rise corresponding to pKa>10.1, whereas the reactions of the wild‐type and H167A mutant enzymes were pH independent. Therefore, the data suggest that a pKa value of >10.1 in the mutant enzyme is associated with the Arg548 residue, and that this residue must be unprotonated to efficiently catalyze flavin reduction. The data imply that for the wild‐type P2O, the conserved His548 should be unprotonated in the pH range studied. The unprotonated His548 can act as a general base to abstract the 2‐hydroxyl proton of D‐glucose and initiate hydride transfer from the substrate to the flavin. Studies of the single mutant N593H showed that the flavin reduction rate constant was 114 times lower than that of the wild‐type enzyme and was pH independent, while the Kd for D‐glucose binding was 19 times greater.
Nanoscale Inhomogeneities in Thermoresponsive Triblock Copolymers
Authors: Kurzbach Dennis , Reh Miriam N. , Hinderberger Dariush 
Published: October 2011

AbstractWe present continuous‐wave (CW) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy data of the spin probe 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO) in aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(propylene oxide)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO–PPO–PEO) triblock copolymers (Pluronic or Poloxamer). TEMPO is notably smaller than the spin probes conventionally used in the context of polymer science and reveals the early emergence of small hydrophobic cavities when PPO strands of several molecules aggregate and collapse upon temperature increase. The occurrence of hydrophobic cavities appears independent of the overall molecular weight of the Pluronics, but clearly depends on the relative PPO/PEO contents. In all the cases studied, the volume fraction of hydrophobic cavities increases in a broad temperature range of ≥40 °C. The appearance of the hydrophobic regions does not seem to be directly correlated to micellization of the polymers. A decrease of the relative PPO amount in the polymers not only hinders collapse of the PPO strands, it can also be described as a site exchange of the spin probes between hydrophobic cavities and the surrounding medium. On the other hand, in cases of high PPO contents, spin probe exchange could not be observed. This suggests that one may potentially control the diffusion of small molecules between the micellar cores and the surrounding medium by adjusting the PEO/PPO ratio of the used Pluronics.
Daily stress increases risky decision‐making in adolescents: A preliminary study
Authors: Galván Adriana , McGlennen Kristine M. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractAdolescence is characterized as a developmental period of risky decision‐making. During this developmental window there is also a marked increase in actual and perceived stress. Acute stress increases risky decision‐making in adults, but no research has examined this phenomenon in adolescents. In this study, an ecologically relevant approach was used to document daily self‐reports of stress in adolescents and an emerging adult comparison group. Participants visited the laboratory twice: once each when they endorsed a high and low level of stress, where they performed a risky decision‐making task and a response inhibition task. In both groups, participants showed greater risky decision‐making under high (vs. low) stress conditions but no stress‐related effects on response inhibition. The dissociation between decision‐making and response inhibition under stress suggests that, across development, individuals show greater vulnerability to contextual influence in decision‐making domains. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 54:433–440, 2012.
Isolation of rat embryonic stem‐like cells: A tool for stem cell research and drug discovery
Authors: Fernández M. , Pirondi S. , Chen B. L. , Del Vecchio G. , Alessandri M. , Farnedi A. , Pession A. , Feki A. , Jaconi M.E.E. , Calzà L. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe establishment of rat embryonic stem cells constitutes a precious tool since rat has been extensively used in biomedical research, in particular for the generation of human neurodisease animal models. Up to now only a few studies have described the isolation of rat embryonic stem‐like cells. One out of 9 isolated rat embryonic stem‐like cell lines (B1‐RESC) obtained from a 4.5‐day post‐coitum blastocyst were extensively characterized and kept in culture for up to 80 passages on feeders with LIF. The stable growth of these cells and the expression of pluripotent markers were confirmed up to a high number of passages in culture, also in the absence of feeders and LIF. B1‐RESC expresses the three germ layers markers both in vitro, within differentiating embryoid bodies, and in vivo through teratoma formation. Collectively, the B1‐RESC line with a stable near‐diploid karyotype can be used as a highly sensitive tool for testing anti‐proliferative molecules. Developmental Dynamics 240:2482–2494, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Unique effects of sulfur and water on the syntheses of thiaheterocycles
Authors: Sun Dong‐Qing , Yang Jing‐Kui 
Published: October 2011

AbstractA series of thiaheterocycles were produced by the reaction of diethyl 2,3‐dibromomaleate or diethyl 2,3‐dibromofumarate with different sulfides without any catalyst. The major products shifted in different conditions. Water was found playing a key role in the generation of carbon–carbon single bonds. Meanwhile, the addition of sulfur could accelerate the reaction and greatly improve the yield of certain products. In addition, unusual, broad single peaks were found in 13C NMR spectra of some compounds. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 23:84–90, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/hc.20755
Predicting the dependencies of rainfall‐runoff responses on human forest disturbances with soil loss based on the runoff mechanisms in granite and sedimentary rock mountains
Authors: Tani Makoto , Fujimoto Masamitsu , Katsuyama Masanori , Kojima Nagahiro , Hosoda Ikuhiro , Kosugi Ken'ichirou , Kosugi Yoshiko , Nakamura Sho 
Published: October 2011

AbstractUnderstanding the effects of severe human induced forest disturbances with soil loss on rainfall‐runoff responses is important for future forest management. However, few studies have addressed this issue, which is methodologically difficult compared with the hydrological assessments of the effects of logging. In this study, several small catchments in Japan with different soil and geological conditions were compared using the runoff model HYCYMODEL to reveal their runoff characteristics. The results were then examined on the basis of runoff mechanisms to demonstrate the possible ranges of the effects derived from human disturbances for each geological type. For granite mountains, bare land can be considered the severest case of disturbances leading to high stormflow peaks, although a large baseflow remains because of the water storage fluctuation in weathered bedrock. For sedimentary rock mountains, the severest case may be a forest on the clayey soil without brown forest soil producing flashy runoff characteristics including a large stormflow volume with a sensitive response to the antecedent dryness and a low baseflow rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Numerical investigations on the relationships between watershed characteristics and water balance model parameters: searching for universal relationships among regional relationships
Authors: Yokoo Yoshiyuki , Kazama So 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe present study attempts to identify universal relationships between the geographical characteristics of a basin and the streamflow within a basin by using the parameter regionalization method of a water balance model, with the aim of gaining hydrological knowledge that might enable predictions of streamflow in ungauged basins. To this end, we first revisited existing regional relationships between the parameters of a Tank model and the geographical characteristics in Japanese mountainous basins, and translated the regional relationships between the geographical characteristics of a basin and streamflow. Second, we used a physically distributed rainfall–runoff model to perform a sensitivity analysis on the effect of the geographical characteristics of a hypothetical basin on its streamflow, with the aim of obtaining physically explainable relationships between these factors. Finally, we selected regional relationships that were also explained in the sensitivity analysis as potentially representing universal hydrological knowledge that might help to predict streamflow in ungauged basins. As a result, we obtained the following potentially universal hydrological knowledge: (1) the fraction of surface flow is less in large basins than in small basins; (2) the infiltration at the ground surface is higher if a basin is covered by soil with a high vertical permeability; (3) the fraction of prompt interflow is higher if a basin is covered by soil with a high horizontal permeability; (4) the fraction of delayed interflow is lower in large basins than in small basins and (5) the storage capacity at the ground surface is high if the ground surface is very rough. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Numerical investigation of apparent multifractality of samples from processes subordinated to truncated fBm
Authors: Guadagnini Alberto , Neuman Shlomo P. , Riva Monica 
Published: October 2011

AbstractWe investigate numerically apparent multi‐fractal behavior of samples from synthetically generated processes subordinated to truncated fractional Brownian motion (tfBm) on finite domains. We are motivated by the recognition that many earth and environmental (including hydrological) variables appear to be self‐affine (monofractal) or multifractal with Gaussian or heavy‐tailed distributions. The literature considers self‐affine and multifractal types of scaling to be fundamentally different, the first arising from additive and the second from multiplicative random fields or processes. It has been demonstrated theoretically by one of us that square or absolute increments of samples from Gaussian/Lévy processes subordinated to tfBm exhibit apparent/spurious multifractality at intermediate ranges of separation lags, with breakdown in power‐law scaling at small and large lags as is commonly exhibited by real data. A preliminary numerical demonstration of apparent multifractality by the same author was limited to Gaussian fields having nearest neighbor autocorrelations and led to rather noisy results. Here, we adopt a new generation scheme that allows us to investigate apparent multifractal behaviors of samples taken from a broad range of processes including Gaussian with and without symmetric Lévy and log‐normal (as well as potentially other) subordinators. Our results shed new light on the nature of apparent multifractality, which has wide implications vis‐a‐vis the scaling of many hydrological as well as other earth and environmental variables. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modelling wetland connectivity during overbank flooding in a tropical floodplain in north Queensland, Australia
Authors: Karim Fazlul , Kinsey‐Henderson Anne , Wallace Jim , Arthington Angela H. , Pearson Richard G. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractHydrological connectivity between floodplain wetlands and rivers is one of the principal driving mechanisms for the diversity, productivity and interactions of the major biota in river–floodplain systems. This article describes a method of quantifying flood‐induced overbank connectivity using a hydrodynamic model (MIKE 21) to calculate the timing, the duration and the spatial extent of the connections between several floodplain wetlands and rivers in the Tully–Murray catchment, north Queensland, Australia. Areal photogrammetry and field surveyed stream cross data were used to reproduce floodplain topography and rivers in the model. Laser altimetry (LiDAR)–derived fine resolution elevation data, for the central floodplain, were added to the topography model to improve the resolution of key features including wetlands, flow pathways and natural and artificial flow barriers. The hydrodynamic model was calibrated using a combination of in‐stream and floodplain gauge records. A range of off‐stream wetlands including natural and artificial, small and large were investigated for their connectivity with two main rivers (Tully and Murray) flowing over the floodplain for flood events of 1‐, 20‐ and 50‐year recurrence intervals. The duration of the connection of individual wetlands varied from 1 to 12 days, depending on flood magnitude and location in the floodplain, with some wetlands only connected during large floods. All of the wetlands studied were connected to the Tully River for shorter periods than they were to the Murray River because of the higher bank heights and levees on the Tully River and wetland proximity to the Murray River. Other than hydrology, land relief, riverbank elevation and levee banks along the river were found key factors controlling the degree of connectivity. These variations in wetland connectivity could have important implications for aquatic biota that move between rivers and off‐stream habitats during floods. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular detection of viral causes of encephalitis and meningitis in New York State
Authors: Dupuis Michelle , Hull Rene , Wang Heng , Nattanmai Seela , Glasheen Bernadette , Fusco Heather , Dzigua Lela , Markey Katie , Tavakoli Norma P. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe etiology of encephalitis and meningitis, serious diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), in most cases remains unknown. The importance of establishing a diagnosis however, becomes even more important as advances are made in effective therapy. Molecular methods of detection, in particular, PCR, are being used routinely and have established a place in the arsenal of tools for diagnosis of CNS infections. In this study a viral etiological agent was detected by PCR in 340 of the total 2,357 specimens from patients who exhibited symptoms of encephalitis or meningitis. The detection rate increased from 8.9% during the first year of the study to 14.8% during the second year of the study with improved methodology and an expanded panel of viral agents. Methods were enhanced by developing real‐time PCR assays (some multiplexed), using increased automation, superior nucleic acid extraction, and reverse transcription (RT) methods, and incorporation of an internal extraction control. Additionally, adenovirus and human herpes virus 6 (HHV‐6) were added to the original panel of 10 viruses that included enteroviruses, herpesviruses, and arboviruses. The most common viruses detected were enteroviruses (129; 5.5%), Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) (85; 3.6%), herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) 1 and 2 (67; 2.8%), and varicella zoster virus (VZV) (44; 1.9%). J. Med. Virol. 83:2172–2181, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.