bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Streptococcus gordonii FSS2 Challisin affects fibrin clot formation by digestion of the αC region and cleavage of the N-terminal region of the Bβ chains of fibrinogen
Authors: Farahani Ramin M. , Simonian Mary R. , Hunter Luke , Hunter Neil , Harty Derek W. S. 
Published: May 2012

SummaryBacteria within endocarditis vegetations are encased in fibrin matrix that is resistant to resolution. We have previously shown that FSS2 Challisin, a serine protease from Streptococcus gordonii, is able to hydrolyse the Aα and Bβ chains of fibrinogen and has potent angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity. The alteration in the structure of fibrin formed from FSS2 Challisin-degraded fibrinogen may therefore contribute to the resistant fibrin matrix. To this end, we have investigated the specific interactions of FSS2 Challisin with fibrinogen. FSS2 Challisin extensively degrades the αC region of fibrinogen Aα chains, hydrolysing both the αC-domain and αC-connnector. Additionally, the N-terminal region of the Bβ chains is cleaved twice, at Leu19 and Ser28, removing the B fibrinopeptides and ‘B’ knobs. Substrate analysis indicates FSS2 Challisin has specific requirement for proline two residues before the cleavage point and a neutral or basic un-branched amino acid preceding the cleavage point. Fibrin formation by thrombin was modified and the initiation of fibrinolysis extended, in FSS2 Challisin-treated plasma clots. Digestion of fibrinogen by FSS2 Challisin prior to thrombin action increased fiber density and fiber branch point density. The velocity of fibrinolysis was significantly slower for fibrin formed from FSS2 Challisin-treated fibrinogen but was faster when data was normalised for the increased fibrin density. Thromboelastography of whole blood treated with FSS2 Challisin indicated reduced clot coagulation time and increased shear resistance. Combined ACE and fibrinogenase activities of FSS2 Challisin suggest a pro-coagulant effect of this virulence factor which is conserved in the viridans streptococci.
Lagrangian Observations of Inner-Shelf Motions in Southern California: Can Surface Waves Decelerate Shoreward-Moving Drifters Just outside the Surf Zone?
Authors: Ohlmann J. Carter , Fewings Melanie R. , Melton Christopher 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
This study explores Eulerian and Lagrangian circulation during weak winds at two inner-shelf locations off the Southern California coast where the shoreline, shelf, wind, and wave characteristics differ from those in previous studies. In agreement with recent observational studies, wave-driven Eulerian offshore flow just outside the surf zone, referred to as undertow, is a substantial component of the net cross-shore circulation during periods of weak winds. Drifter observations show onshore surface flow, likely due to light onshore winds, and a consistent decrease in onshore velocity of roughly 4 cm s−1 within a few hundred meters of the surf zone. Undertow is examined as a possible explanation for the observed Lagrangian decelerations. Model results suggest that, even when waves are small, undertow can decrease the velocity of shoreward-moving drifters by &gt;2 cm s−1, roughly half the observed deceleration. The coastal boundary condition also has the potential to contribute to the observed decelerations. Subtracting predicted Stokes drift velocities from the Lagrangian drifter observations improves the agreement between the drifter observations and coincident Eulerian ADCP observations.
The Effect of Two Different Domperidone Doses on Maternal Milk Production
Authors: Knoppert David C. , Page Andrea , Warren Joanne , Seabrook Jamie A. , Carr Michelle , Angelini Michelle , Killick Diane , daSilva Orlando P. 
Published: May 2012

Background: The benefits of breast milk to the newborn infant are well established. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life for healthy, term infants. Mothers of premature newborns, however, may have difficulty providing an adequate supply of breast milk. Domperidone is officially used as a prokinetic agent. However, it is used widely around the world as a galactogogue. Despite its widespread use as a galactogogue, only a small number of investigators have studied domperidone for this indication. Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine an optimal dosage of domperidone as a galactogogue. Methods: Eligible subjects were randomized to receive domperidone 10 mg 3 times daily or domperidone 20 mg 3 times daily for 4 weeks. At week 5, the frequency was decreased to twice daily in both groups, and finally once daily for week 6. Results: Over the entire first 4-week period, there was a significant increase in daily milk volumes within each group ( P < .01). The between-group difference over this period, although not statistically significant, was clinically significant. Additionally, there was no significant within- or between-group difference during weeks 5 and 6. Conclusion: A dose of domperidone of 20 mg, 3 times daily instead of 10 mg, 3 times daily was associated with a clinical, but not statistically significant, increase in milk production.
Effect of particle size of fly ash cenospheres on the properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene-filled composites
Authors: Kulkarni MB , Bambole VA , Mahanwar PA 
Published: May 2012

Fly ash cenospheres are inexpensive, readily available from coal burning or heavy oil combustion, not an eco-friendly material. If ways can be found to use this, it will serve the twin purposes of facilitating applications for the ash bearing materials and at the same time reduce pollution. One way to achieve this task is to make ash-bearing composites having polymer matrices. The performance of filled polymers is generally determined on the basis of the interface attraction of filler and polymers. Fillers of widely varying particle size and surface characteristics are responsive to the interfacial interactions with the polymers. The present study deals with the effect of particle size (150 mesh, 100 mesh, and 300 mesh) variations in fly ash cenospheres, as a filler with different concentrations (0–40 wt%), on various properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of the composite material were evaluated, and the microstructure was investigated through scanning electron microscopy. The smaller particle size showed better properties in comparison with larger particle size. As increasing filler loading, the saturation level is influenced by the agglomeration of filler particles in the polymer matrix. Thus, the performance of polymer filled with fly ash cenosphere composites is the function of the particle size, the dispersion, and the interfacial interaction between the filler particles and the polymer matrix.
Circulating DBP level and prognosis in operated lung cancer: an exploration of pathophysiology
Authors: Turner Alice M. , McGowan Laura , Millen Alan , Rajesh Pala , Webster Craig , Langman Gerald , Rock Gavin , Tachibana Isao , Tomlinson Michael G. , Berditchevski Fedor , Naidu Babu 
Published: May 2012

Vitamin D stimulates transcription of antiangiogenic and apoptotic factors that may suppress tumours, while vitamin D binding protein (DBP) may be a biomarker in murine lung cancer models. We sought to ascertain whether the vitamin D axis is altered in lung cancer or influences prognosis.148 lung cancer patients, 68 other intrathoracic cancer patients and 33 noncancer controls were studied for up to 5 yrs. Circulating DBP and vitamin D levels were compared between groups and their effect on survival assessed by Cox regression analysis. Expression of DBP and vitamin D receptor (VDR) was examined in lung cancer cell lines and in normal and tumour lung tissue by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.Low serum DBP levels predicted lung cancer-specific death (p=0.04), and DBP was poorly expressed in lung cancer cells on Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Vitamin D did not predict cancer survival and VDR expression was variable in tumours.Preservation of serum DBP is a significant independent factor associated with better cancer outcome in operated lung cancer patients. Given the established role of DBP in macrophage activation and clearance of abnormal cells, further study on its involvement in lung cancer is merited.
A putative lytic transglycosylase tightly regulated and critical for the EHEC type three secretion
Authors: Yu Yen-Chi , Lin Ching-Nan , Wang Shao-Hung , Ng Swee-Chuan , Hu Wensi S , Syu Wan-Jr 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
Open reading frame l0045 in the pathogenic island of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 has been predicted to encode a lytic transglycosylase that is homologous to two different gene products encoded by the same bacteria at loci away from the island. To deduce the necessity of the presence in the island, we created an l0045- deleted strain of EHEC and observed that both the level of cytosolic EspA and that of the other type III secreted proteins in the media were affected. In a complementation assay, a low level-expressing L0045 appeared to recover efficiently the type III secretion (TTS). On the other hand, when l0045 was driven to express robustly, the intracellular levels of representative TTS proteins were severely suppressed. This suppression is apparently caused by the protein of L0045 per se since introducing an early translational termination codon abolished the suppression. Intriguingly, the authentic L0045 was hardly detected in all lysates of EHEC differently prepared while the same construct was expectedly expressed in the K-12 strain. A unique network must exist in EHEC to tightly regulate the presence of L0045, and we found that a LEE regulator (GrlA) is critically involved in this regulation.
Hypoglycemia induced changes in cholinergic receptor expression in the cerebellum of diabetic rats
Authors: Antony Sherin , Kumar T Peeyush , Mathew Jobin , Anju TR , Paulose CS 
Published: May 2012

AbstractGlucose homeostasis in humans is an important factor for the functioning of nervous system. Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is found to be associated with central and peripheral nerve system dysfunction. Changes in acetylcholine receptors have been implicated in the pathophysiology of many major diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). In the present study we showed the effects of insulin induced hypoglycemia and streptozotocin induced diabetes on the cerebellar cholinergic receptors, GLUT3 and muscle cholinergic activity. Results showed enhanced binding parameters and gene expression of Muscarinic M1, M3 receptor subtypes in cerebellum of diabetic (D) and hypoglycemic group (D + IIH and C + IIH). α7nAchR gene expression showed a significant upregulation in diabetic group and showed further upregulated expression in both D + IIH and C + IIH group. AchE expression significantly upregulated in hypoglycemic and diabetic group. ChAT showed downregulation and GLUT3 expression showed a significant upregulation in D + IIH and C + IIH and diabetic group. AchE activity enhanced in the muscle of hypoglycemic and diabetic rats. Our studies demonstrated a functional disturbance in the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3 in the cerebellum during insulin induced hypoglycemia in diabetic rats. Altered expression of muscarinic M1, M3 and α7nAchR and increased muscle AchE activity in hypoglycemic rats in cerebellum is suggested to cause cognitive and motor dysfunction. Hypoglycemia induced changes in ChAT and AchE gene expression is suggested to cause impaired acetycholine metabolism in the cerebellum. Cerebellar dysfunction is associated with seizure generation, motor deficits and memory impairment. The results shows that cerebellar cholinergic neurotransmission is impaired during hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and the hypoglycemia is causing more prominent imbalance in cholinergic neurotransmission which is suggested to be a cause of cerebellar dysfunction associated with hypoglycemia.
Identification of Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) as a binding protein for a 68-kDa Bacillus thuringiensis parasporal protein cytotoxic against leukaemic cells
Authors: Krishnan Kanakeswary , Ker Jeremy Er An , Mohammed Shar Mariam , Nadarajah Vishna Devi 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), an ubiquitous gram-positive spore-forming bacterium forms parasporal proteins during the stationary phase of its growth. Recent findings of selective human cancer cell-killing activity in non-insecticidal Bt isolates resulted in a new category of Bt parasporal protein called parasporin. However, little is known about the receptor molecules that bind parasporins and the mechanism of anti-cancer activity. A Malaysian Bt isolate, designated Bt18 produces parasporal protein that exhibit preferential cytotoxic activity for human leukaemic T cells (CEM-SS) but is non-cytotoxic to normal T cells or other cancer cell lines such as human cervical cancer (HeLa), human breast cancer (MCF-7) and colon cancer (HT-29) suggesting properties similar to parasporin. In this study we aim to identify the binding protein for Bt18 in human leukaemic T cells.

Methods
Bt18 parasporal protein was separated using Mono Q anion exchange column attached to a HPLC system and antibody was raised against the purified 68-kDa parasporal protein. Receptor binding assay was used to detect the binding protein for Bt18 parasporal protein in CEM-SS cells and the identified protein was sent for N-terminal sequencing. NCBI protein BLAST was used to analyse the protein sequence. Double immunofluorescence staining techniques was applied to localise Bt18 and binding protein on CEM-SS cell.

Results
Anion exchange separation of Bt18 parasporal protein yielded a 68-kDa parasporal protein with specific cytotoxic activity. Polyclonal IgG (anti-Bt18) for the 68-kDa parasporal protein was successfully raised and purified. Receptor binding assay showed that Bt18 parasporal protein bound to a 36-kDa protein from the CEM-SS cells lysate. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 36-kDa protein was GKVKVGVNGFGRIGG. NCBI protein BLAST revealed that the binding protein was Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Double immunofluorescence staining showed co-localisation of Bt18 and GAPDH on the plasma membrane of the CEM-SS cells.

Conclusions
GAPDH has been well known as a glycolytic enzyme, but recently GAPDH was discovered to have roles in apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Pre-incubation of anti-GAPDH antibody with CEM-SS cells decreases binding of Bt18 to the susceptible cells. Based on a qualitative analysis of the immunoblot and immunofluorescence results, GAPDH was identified as a binding protein on the plasma membrane of CEM-SS cells for Bt18 parasporal protein.
A Bayesian variable selection procedure to rank overlapping gene sets
Authors: Skarman Axel , Shariati Mohammad , Jans Luc , Jiang Li , Sørensen Peter 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background
Genome-wide expression profiling using microarrays or sequence-based technologies allows us to identify genes and genetic pathways whose expression patterns influence complex traits. Different methods to prioritize gene sets, such as the genes in a given molecular pathway, have been described. In many cases, these methods test one gene set at a time, and therefore do not consider overlaps among the pathways. Here, we present a Bayesian variable selection method to prioritize gene sets that overcomes this limitation by considering all gene sets simultaneously. We applied Bayesian variable selection to differential expression to prioritize the molecular and genetic pathways involved in the responses to Escherichia coli infection in Danish Holstein cows.

Results
We used a Bayesian variable selection method to prioritize Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. We used our data to study how the variable selection method was affected by overlaps among the pathways. In addition, we compared our approach to another that ignores the overlaps, and studied the differences in the prioritization. The variable selection method was robust to a change in prior probability and stable given a limited number of observations.

Conclusions
Bayesian variable selection is a useful way to prioritize gene sets while considering their overlaps. Ignoring the overlaps gives different and possibly misleading results. Additional procedures may be needed in cases of highly overlapping pathways that are hard to prioritize.
ERP correlates of social conformity in a line judgment task
Authors: Chen Jing , Wu Yin , Tong Guangyu , Guan Xiaoming , Zhou Xiaolin 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background
Previous research showed that individuals have a natural tendency to conform to others. This study investigated the temporal characteristics of neural processing involved in social conformity by recording participants’ brain potentials in performing a line judgment task. After making his initial choice, a participant was presented with the choices of four same-sex group members, which could be congruent or highly or moderately incongruent with the participant’s own choice. The participant was then immediately given a second opportunity to respond to the same stimulus.

Results
Participants were more likely to conform to the group members by changing their initial choices when these choices were in conflict with the group’s choices, and this behavioral adjustment occurred more often as the level of incongruence increased. Electrophysiologically, group choices that were incongruent with the participant’s choice elicited more negative-going medial frontal negativity (MFN), a component associated with processing expectancy violation, than those that were congruent with the participant’s choice, and the size of this effect increased as the level of incongruence increased. Moreover, at both levels of incongruence, the MFN responses were more negative-going for incongruent trials in which participants subsequently performed behavioral adjustment than for trials in which they stuck to their initial choices. Furthermore, over individual participants, participants who were more likely to conform to others (i.e., changing their initial choices) exhibited stronger MFN effect than individuals who were more independent.

Conclusions
These findings suggest that incongruence with group choices or opinions can elicit brain responses that are similar to those elicited by violation of non-social expectancy in outcome evaluation and performance monitoring, and these brain signals are utilized in the following behavioral adjustment. The present research complements recent brain imaging studies by showing the temporal characteristics of neural processing involved in social conformity and by suggesting common mechanisms for reinforcement learning in social and non-social situations.
Effects of simvastatin 40 mg daily on muscle and liver adverse effects in a 5-year randomized placebo-controlled trial in 20,536 high-risk people
Authors:   MRC/BHF Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background
Simvastatin reduces cardiovascular mortality and morbidity but, as with other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, can cause significant muscle toxicity and has been associated with elevations of liver transaminases.

Methods
Muscle and liver adverse effects of simvastatin 40 mg daily were evaluated in a randomized placebo-controlled trial involving 20,536 UK patients with vascular disease or diabetes (in which a substantial reduction of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity has previously been demonstrated).

Results
The excess incidence of myopathy in the simvastatin group was < 0.1% over the 5 years of the trial, and there were no significant differences between the treatment groups in the incidence of serious hepatobiliary disease.

Conclusion
Among the many different types of high-risk patient studied (including women, older individuals and those with low cholesterol levels), there was a very low incidence (< 0.1%) of myopathy during 5 years treatment with simvastatin 40 mg daily. The risk of hepatitis, if any, was undetectable even in this very large long-term trial. Routine monitoring of liver function tests during treatment with simvastatin 40 mg is not useful.

Trial Registration
ISRCTN48489393
A qualitative analysis of environmental policy and children's health in Mexico
Authors: Cifuentes Enrique , Trasande Leonardo , Ramirez Martha , Landrigan Philip J 
Published: May 2012

AbstractBackgroundSince Mexico's joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1994, it has witnessed rapid industrialization. A byproduct of this industrialization is increasing population exposure to environmental pollutants, of which some have been associated with childhood disease. We therefore identified and assessed the adequacy of existing international and Mexican governance instruments and policy tools to protect children from environmental hazards.MethodsWe first systematically reviewed PubMed, the Mexican legal code and the websites of the United Nations, World Health Organization, NAFTA and OECD as of July 2007 to identify the relevant governance instruments, and analyzed the approach these instruments took to preventing childhood diseases of environmental origin. Secondly, we interviewed a purposive sample of high-level government officials, researchers and non-governmental organization representatives, to identify their opinions and attitudes towards children's environmental health and potential barriers to child-specific protective legislation and implementation.ResultsWe identified only one policy tool describing specific measures to reduce developmental neurotoxicity and other children's health effects from lead. Other governance instruments mention children's unique vulnerability to ozone, particulate matter and carbon monoxide, but do not provide further details. Most interviewees were aware of Mexican environmental policy tools addressing children's health needs, but agreed that, with few exceptions, environmental policies do not address the specific health needs of children and pregnant women. Interviewees also cited state centralization of power, communication barriers and political resistance as reasons for the absence of a strong regulatory platform.ConclusionsThe Mexican government has not sufficiently accounted for children's unique vulnerability to environmental contaminants. If regulation and legislation are not updated and implemented to protect children, increases in preventable exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment may ensue.