bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increased electroretinogram a‐wave amplitude after intravitreal bevacizumab injection for neovascular age‐related macular degeneration
Authors: Skaat Alon , Solomon Arie , Moroz Iris , Hai Orit Vidne , Rechtman Ehud , Vishnevskia Dai Vicktoria , Rotenstreich Ygal 
Published: October 2010

Abstract.Purpose:  To assess the effect of bevacizumab (Avastin®), a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, on retinal function by full‐field electroretinography (ERG) in patients with neovascular age‐related macular degeneration (AMD).Design:  A prospective, nonrandomized, controlled interventional clinical trial.Methods:  Twelve patients (aged 50−85) with neovascular AMD each received one unilateral intravitreal injection of bevacizumab 1.25 mg/0.05 ml as part of the standard management for choroidal neovascular AMD. Before and 1 month after injection, all patients underwent bilateral full‐field ERG scanning by a masked technician according to the ISCEV protocol, and their wave amplitudes were recorded. Untreated eyes served as controls. Scotopic responses were recorded at four incremental light intensities and photopic responses at two incremental light intensities. Changes in ERG‐amplitude responses were calculated. Repeated‐measures anova was used for data analysis.Results:  Mean pre‐ and postinjection differences in a‐wave amplitudes between the incremental light intensities in injected eyes were significantly higher than in controls (15.92 versus 1.33 μV for scotopic responses and 4.97 versus −1.06 μV for photopic responses; p = 0.057 and p = 0.01, respectively). Mean b‐wave amplitudes in injected eyes were significantly higher than in controls for photopic responses (p = 0.048), but for scotopic responses, the difference between treated and untreated eyes was not significant (p = 0.23).Conclusions:  Intravitreally injected bevacizumab improves both rod and cone functioning in patients with neovascular AMD, as demonstrated by the increase in the ERG a‐wave responses of these patients. Other measured ERG parameters yielded no significant photoreceptor toxicity.
Corneal endothelial cells 6–7 years following cataract surgery in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome
Authors: Østern Atle E. , Drolsum Liv 
Published: October 2010

Abstract.Purpose:  To assess the condition of the corneal endothelium an extended period after cataract surgery in eyes with and without pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PES).Methods:  Forty‐six patients with PES who underwent cataract surgery in the Eye Department, Oslo University Hospital, in 2001 and 2002 were enrolled and compared to 101 matched controls without PES who had surgery in the same period. They were re‐examined 6–7 years following surgery with measurements taken of corneal endothelial cell density (ECD), pleomorphism, polymegathism and corneal thickness.Results:  Mean ECD was 2024 ± 371 cells/mm2 in eyes with PES and 2144 ± 365 cells/mm2 in eyes without PES. The difference was not statistically significant. No significant difference in polymegathism and pleomorphism was noted. Mean corneal thickness was 543 and 547 μm in eyes with and without PES, respectively (not statistically significant). The presence of glaucoma in pseudoexfoliative eyes was not associated with endothelial cell changes.Conclusion:  Six to 7 years following cataract surgery, no statistically significant differences were established in ECD, pleomorphism, polymegathism and corneal thickness in eyes with and without PES. No clinical signs of corneal decompensation were noted amongst the participants.
Intravitreal triamcinolone, bevacizumab and pegaptanib for occult choroidal neovascularization
Authors: Forte Raimondo , Cennamo Gilda , Finelli Marialuisa , Cesarano Ida , D’Amico Giuseppe , De Crecchio Giuseppe , Cennamo Giovanni 
Published: October 2010

Acta Ophthalmol. 2010: 88: e305–e310Abstract.Purpose:  To evaluate best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and foveal thickness (FT) changes in occult subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) from age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB, 1.25 mg/0.05 ml), pegaptanib (IVP, 0.3 mg/0.09 ml) and triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA, 4 mg/0.1 ml) injected on an as needed basis.Methods:  Retrospective, interventional, comparative study. BCVA (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study LogMAR) and FT by optical coherence tomography (OCT) were evaluated during 12 months from first treatment. Patients were retreated if signs of neovascular activity were still present on angiography or OCT.Results:  Forty‐eight eyes received IVB, 43 eyes received IVP, 52 eyes received IVTA. BCVA and FT at baseline were 1.22 ± 0.49 LogMAR and 410.2 ± 41.83 μm in the IVB group, 1.25 ± 0.43 LogMAR and 452.3 ± 44.83 μm in the IVP group and 1.31 ± 0.4 LogMAR and 456.6 ± 48.27 μm in the IVTA group. BCVA and FT improved in the three groups during follow‐up. A significantly greater improvement of BCVA was present at month‐3, month‐6 and at month‐12 in the IVB and IVP groups (p = 0.01). Improvement of FT was greater in the IVTA group at month‐3 (p = 0.02), while it was greater in the anti‐Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) groups at month‐6 and month‐12 (p = 0.01). A postoperative increase of intraocular pressure was detected in 9/52 (17.3%) eyes treated with IVTA, and in two cases it was resistant to topical therapy.Conclusion:  Intravitreal injection of anti‐VEGF drugs administered on an as needed basis for AMD‐related occult CNVs provided functional and anatomic improvement during 12 months of follow‐up.
Simvastatin Inhibits Glucose‐Stimulated Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Migration Involving Increased Expression of RhoB and a Block of Ras/Akt Signal
Authors: Chan Kuei‐Chuan , Wu Cheng‐Hsun , Huang Chien‐Ning , Lan Kuang‐Ping , Chang Wen Chun , Wang Chau‐Jong 
Published: October 2010

SUMMARYBackground:Diabetic patients are at high risk to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and have a higher restenotic rate after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Statins improve cardiovascular outcome and reduce restenosis after PCI by inhibiting proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). But the effect of statins on diabetes without dyslipidemia was still not fully understood. Our previous study has demonstrated that simvastatin inhibits VSMC proliferation in high glucose status without dyslipidemia, inducing a G0/G1 phase cell cycle growth arrest by acting on multiple steps upstream of pRb, including inhibition of CDK2/4 expression and upregulation of p53, p21, p16, and p27.Method:Following our previous study, we investigated the mechanism of simvastatin inhibition of VSMC migration in a diabetes‐like model (A7r5 cells under high glucose conditions without dyslipidemia).Results:Under high glucose conditions, simvastatin dose‐dependently inhibited VSMC migration, decreased PI3K/Akt pathway activity, reduced c‐Raf and Ras expression, increased RhoB but not RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc2 expression, dose‐dependently inhibited MMP‐2, but not MMP‐9, activity, and dose‐dependently inhibited NF‐κB activity.Conclusion:The inhibition of VSMC migration under high glucose conditions was via two different pathways. The first pathway is mevalonate‐related but not RhoA protein‐related and involves suppression of Ras and PI3K/Akt signals. The second pathway is not mevalonate‐related and involves increasing RhoB expression directly.
Disruption of Coronary Vasomotor Function: The Coronary Spasm Syndrome
Authors: Moukarbel George V. , Weinrauch Larry A. 
Published: October 2010

SUMMARYAbnormal coronary vasoconstriction, or coronary spasm, can be the result of several factors, including local and neuroendocrine aberrations. It can manifest clinically as a coronary syndrome and plays an important role in the genesis of myocardial ischemia. Over the past half century, coronary angiography allowed the in vivo demonstration of spasm in patients who fit the initial clinical description of the condition as reported by Prinzmetal et al. Several clinical, basic, and more recently, genetic studies have provided insight into the pathogenesis, manifestations, and therapy of this condition. It is not uncommonly encountered in patients with coronary syndromes and absence of clearly pathologic lesions on angiography. Provocation tests utilizing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic stimuli combined with imaging (echocardiography or coronary angiography) can help make the correct diagnosis. The use of calcium channel blockers and long‐acting nitrates is currently considered standard of care and the overall prognosis appears to be good. The recent discovery of genetic abnormalities predisposing to abnormal spasm of the coronaries has stimulated interest in the development of targeted therapies for the management of this condition.
Quechua Sheepherders on the Mountain Plains of Wyoming: The (In)hospitality of U.S. Guest Worker Programs
Authors: Krögel Alison 
Published: October 2010

RESUMENEste artículo describe el contexto histórico y socioeconómico de los programas de trabajo temporal de los EEUU y los modelos de (in)migración peruana que han contribuido al empleo de pastores quechuas en los Estados Unidos. El pastor “invitado” y contratado por un ranchero “anfitrión,” enfrenta un desequilibrio de poder en el cual su estatus legal depende del cumplimiento del contrato establecido por un solo empleador. Siguiendo el concepto de hospitalidad elaborado por Derrida—que la describe como un aporía sin resolución—arguyo que los programas de trabajo temporal conducen a los pastores hacia una “trampa hospitalaria”; pues no entienden el lenguaje del contrato y, además, su estatus temporal y legal contribuye a la crónica ceguera de los legisladores ante las atroces condiciones de trabajo y vivienda. Los pastores relatan testimonios sobre las privaciones físicas y emocionales a las que se que enfrentan como “huérfanos” (wakchakuna) en planicies estadounidenses en donde el pastoreo carece de las creencias quechuas sobre las relaciones de reciprocidad entre los humanos, la tierra y los animales.
Memories of the “Old Aboriginal Dances”: The Toba and Mocoví Performances in the Argentine Chaco
Authors: Citro Silvia 
Published: October 2010

RESUMENEste artículo explora las transformaciones de los cantos‐danzas circulares hasta mediados del siglo XX, entre dos pueblos aborígenes del Chaco argentino: tobas y mocovíes. A partir de las memorias de estos pueblos, analizo sus “danzas antiguas” como performances culturales que combinan expresiones corporales, musicales, visuales y verbales, y que tienen la capacidad de representar y también de constituir ciertos aspectos de la vida social. Propongo que estas performances fueron acciones corporizadas significantes que formaron parte de las disputas de los performers por legitimar o transformar sus relaciones étnicas, de género e intergeneracionales. Y en la actualidad, su memoria aún juega un rol clave en estas relaciones sociales. De este modo, intento mostrar cómo el estudio de los cambios estéticos en las danzas puede desvelar aspectos menos visibles de los procesos socioculturales de los pueblos aborígenes, especialmente, cuando las danzas se convierten en un campo ambiguo y dinámico en el que tienen lugar los procesos de legitimación, empoderamiento y disputa.
Shamans and Shams: The Discursive Effects of Ethnotourism in Ecuador
Authors: Davidov Veronica M. 
Published: October 2010

RESUMENHan surgido nuevas formas mercantilizadas de chamanismo en las comunidades Kichwa debido a la nueva afluencia de turistas interesados en las culturas indígenas de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana. Los ritos chamanicos son populares entre los turistas porque representan sus fantasías de la alteridad cultural, pero los intercambios económicos entre turistas y chamanes plantean problemas de legitimidad y autenticidad. El turismo privilegia los aspectos performativos de chamanismo más que las tradiciones que tradicionalmente han definido al chamán. Como consecuencia de ello, las comunidades Kichwa han visto un surgimiento de “nuevos” chamanes, que están capacitados en la actuación chamánica y tienen acceso a las plantas alucinógenas que se utilizan en el rito, pero les falta la formación apropiada, tradicionalmente asociada con hacerse chamán. En este contexto, el significado y la legitimidad de la vocación chamánica se contesta y se construye tanto intercultural como intraculturalmente.
Discovering Aj Pop B'atz': Collaborative Ethnography and the Exploration of Q'eqchi' Personhood
Authors: Kistler S. Ashley 
Published: October 2010

RESUMENEste informe explora la relación entre el conocimiento histórico y el poder en San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala. En Chamelco, los q'eqchi' producen la historia regional por medio de cuentos de Aj Pop B'atz', quien protegió la comunidad q'eqchi' contra la invasión española en el siglo XVI. En 2006, fundé un grupo étnografico colaborativo para analizar los cuentos orales y un documento colonial. Nuestro análisis revela Aj Pop B'atz' como una parte vital de la vida contemporánea q'eqchi'. Este artículo propone que mis colegas utilicen Aj Pop B'atz' para construir la identidad q'eqchi' y fortalecer su papel en la historia guatemalteca. El descubrimiento de un texto colonial que documenta Aj Pop B'atz' da a mis colegas el poder para cambiar la historia oficial de Guatemala que ignora las contribuciones del pueblo q'eqchi'. De hecho, este informe examina las investigaciones colaborativas como un medio de la historicidad latinoamericana.
Elastic Averaging in Flexure Mechanisms: A Three-Beam Parallelogram Flexure Case Study
Authors: Awtar Shorya , Shimotsu Kevin , Sen Shiladitya 
Published: October 2010

AbstractRedundant constraints are generally avoided in mechanism design because they can lead to binding or loss in expected mobility. However, in certain distributed-compliance flexure mechanism geometries, this problem is mitigated by the phenomenon of elastic averaging. Elastic averaging is a design paradigm that, in contrast with exact constraint design principles, makes deliberate and effective use of redundant constraints to improve performance and robustness. The principle of elastic averaging and its advantages are illustrated in this paper by means of a three-beam parallelogram flexure mechanism, which represents an overconstrained geometry. In a lumped-compliance configuration, this mechanism is prone to binding in the presence of nominal manufacturing and assembly errors. However, with an increasing degree of distributed-compliance, the mechanism is shown to become more tolerant to such geometric imperfections. The nonlinear elastokinematic effect in the constituent beams is shown to play an important role in analytically predicting the consequences of overconstraint and provides a mathematical basis for elastic averaging. A generalized beam constraint model is used for these predictions so that varying degrees of distributed compliance are captured using a single geometric parameter. The closed-form analytical results are validated against finite element analysis, as well as experimental measurements.
Impact of a Fixed-Length Rigid Cylinder on an Elastic-Plastic Homogeneous Body
Authors: Katta Raja R. , Polycarpou Andreas A. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractA contact mechanics (CM) based model of a fixed-length rigid cylinder impacting a homogeneous elastic-plastic homogeneous body was developed and includes an improved method of estimating the residual depth after impact. The nonlinear elastic behavior during unloading was accounted for to develop an improved coefficient of restitution model. The impact model was applied to study a practical case of a cylindrical feature on the slider of a magnetic storage hard disk drive impacting the disk to predict various critical impact contact parameters. The CM model was validated using a plane strain finite element model and it was found that a cylindrical feature with a longer length results in a substantial alleviation of impact damage.
Wave Propagation in Periodic Composites: Higher-Order Asymptotic Analysis Versus Plane-Wave Expansions Method
Authors: Andrianov I. V. , Awrejcewicz J. , Danishevs’kyy V. V. , Weichert D. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractThis work is devoted to a comparison of different methods determining stop-bands in 1D and 2D periodic heterogeneous media. For a 1D case, the well-known dispersion equation is studied via asymptotic approach. In particular, we show how homogenized solutions can be obtained by elementary series used up to any higher-order. We illustrate and discuss a possible application of asymptotic series regarding parameters other than wavelength and frequency. In addition, we study antiplane elastic shear waves propagating in the plane through a spatially infinite periodic composite material consisting of an infinite matrix and a square lattice of circular inclusions. In order to solve the problem, a homogenization method matched with asymptotic solution on the cell with inclusion of the large volume fracture is proposed and successfully applied. First and second approximation terms of the averaging method provide the estimation of the first stop-band. For validity and comparison with other approaches, we have also applied the Fourier method. The Fourier method is shown to work well for relatively small inclusions, i.e., when the inclusion-associated parameters and matrices slightly differ from each other. However, for evidently contrasting structures and for large inclusions, a higher-order homogenization method is advantageous. Therefore, a higher-order homogenization method and the Fourier analysis can be treated as mutually complementary.
Detection of Saxitoxin-Producing Cyanobacteria and
Anabaena circinalis
in Environmental Water Blooms by Quantitative PCR
Authors: Al-Tebrineh Jamal , Mihali Troco Kaan , Pomati Francesco , Neilan Brett A. 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACT

Saxitoxins (STXs) are carbamate alkaloid neurotoxins produced by marine “red tide” dinoflagellates and several species of freshwater filamentous cyanobacteria, including
Anabaena circinalis
,
Aphanizomenon
spp.,
Lyngbya wollei
, and
Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii
. A specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) method based on SYBR green chemistry was developed to quantify saxitoxin-producing
Anabaena circinalis
cyanobacteria, which are major bloom-forming freshwater cyanobacteria. The aim of this study was to infer the potential toxigenicity of samples by determining the copy number of a unique and unusual polyketide synthase (PKS) sequence (
sxtA
) in the STX biosynthesis gene cluster identified in cyanobacteria. Our qPCR approach was applied to water samples collected from different Australian lakes, dams, and rivers. The STX concentration and cyanobacterial cell density of these blooms were also determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and microscopic cell counting, respectively. STX concentrations correlated positively with STX gene copy numbers, indicating that the latter can be used as a measure of potential toxigenicity in
Anabaena circinalis
and possibly other cyanobacterial blooms. The qPCR method targeting STX genes can also be employed for both monitoring and ecophysiological studies of toxic
Anabaena circinalis
blooms and potentially several other STX-producing cyanobacteria.
Repression of Antibiotic Production and Sporulation inStreptomyces coelicolorby Overexpression of a TetR Family Transcriptional Regulator
Authors: Xu Delin , Seghezzi Nicolas , Esnault Catherine , Virolle Marie-Joelle 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACTThe overexpression of a regulatory gene of the TetR family (SCO3201) originating either fromStreptomyces lividansor fromStreptomyces coelicolorwas shown to strongly repress antibiotic production (calcium-dependent antibiotic [CDA], undecylprodigiosin [RED], and actinorhodin [ACT]) ofS. coelicolorand of theppkmutant strain ofS. lividans. Curiously, the overexpression of this gene also had a strong inhibitory effect on the sporulation process ofS. coelicolorbut not on that ofS. lividans. SCO3201 was shown to negatively regulate its own transcription, and its DNA binding motif was found to overlap its −35 promoter sequence. The interruption of this gene inS. lividansorS. coelicolordid not lead to any obvious phenotypes, indicating that when overexpressed SCO3201 likely controls the expression of target genes of other TetR regulators involved in the regulation of the metabolic and morphological differentiation process inS. coelicolor. The direct and functional interaction of SCO3201 with the promoter region ofscbA, a gene under the positive control of the TetR-like regulator, ScbR, was indeed demonstrated byin vitroas well asin vivoapproaches.
Chimeric Lactase Capable of Spontaneous and Strong Immobilization on Cellulose and Development of a Continuous-Flow System for Lactose Hydrolysis at High Temperatures
Authors: Velikodvorskaya G. A. , Tikhonova T. V. , Gurvits I. D. , Karyagina A. S. , Lavrova N. V. , Sergienko O. V. , Tashlitskii V. N. , Lunina N. A. , Lunin V. G. 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACT

Recombinant plasmids containing fusion proteins composed of two different modules were constructed and expressed in
Escherichia coli
. The modules encoded the lactase LacA (LacZ) from the thermophilic bacterium
Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus
and the cellulase CelD, a cellulose-binding module (CBM) from
Anaerocellum thermophilum
. The CelD CBM provides a spontaneous and strong sorption of the fusion proteins onto a cellulose carrier. The enzymatic activities of both the free LacA protein and LacA-CelD CBM fusion proteins immobilized onto the cellulose carrier were assessed. The LacA activity of the fusion protein was dependent upon its position with respect to the CBM. The highest level of lactase activity and stability was observed when the lactase domain was localized at its N terminus. A continuous-flow column reactor of lactase immobilized on a cellulose carrier was constructed, and its activity was assessed. The lactose hydrolysis rate for a 150 mM (5%) solution at a flow rate of 1 reactor volume per min was 75%, which is a value optimal for further whey transformation into glucose/galactose syrup.
Evidence of Distinct Populations and Specific Subpopulations within the SpeciesOenococcus oeni
Authors: Bridier Julen , Claisse Olivier , Coton Monika , Coton Emmanuel , Lonvaud-Funel Aline 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACTAmong the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) present in the oenological microbial ecosystem,Oenococcus oeni, an acidophilic lactic acid bacterium, is essential during winemaking. It outclasses all other bacterial species during malolactic fermentation (MLF). Oenological performances, such as malic acid degradation rate and sensorial impact, vary significantly according to the strain. The genetic diversity of theO. oenispecies was evaluated using a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme. Seven housekeeping genes were sequenced for a collection of 258 strains that had been isolated all over the world (particularly Burgundy, Champagne, and Aquitaine, France, Chile, South Africa, and Italy) and in several wine types (red wines, white wines, and champagne) and cider. The allelic diversity was high, with an average of 20.7 alleles per locus, many of them being rare alleles. The collection comprised 127 sequence types, suggesting an important genotypic diversity. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree constructed from the concatenated sequence of the seven housekeeping genes showed two major phylogenetic groups, named A and B. One unique strain isolated from cider composed a third group, rooting the phylogenetic tree. However, all other strains isolated from cider were in group B. Eight phylogenetic subgroups were statistically differentiated and could be delineated by the analysis of only 32 mutations instead of the 600 mutations observed in the concatenated sequence of the seven housekeeping genes. Interestingly, in group A, several phylogenetic subgroups were composed mostly of strains coming from a precise geographic origin. Three subgroups were identified, composed of strains from Chile, South Africa, and eastern France.