bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Timing, Sex, and Age on Site‐specific Gastrointestinal Permeability Testing in Children and Adults
Authors: McOmber Mark E , Ou Ching‐Nan , Shulman Robert J 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTObjectives:Measurement of gastrointestinal (GI) permeability is commonly used in research and often used clinically. Despite its utility, little is known about sugar excretion timeframes or the potential effects of age and sex on GI permeability testing. We seek to determine the timeframes of sugar excretion and the potential effects of age and sex on urinary recovery of the sugars.Subjects and Methods:Healthy adults (n = 17) and children (n = 15) fasted 4 hours after the evening meal and then ingested a solution of sucrose, lactulose, mannitol, and sucralose. Urine was collected at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after ingestion and then each time the subjects voided during the next 24 hours. Each urine void was collected separately.Results:Median age for the adults was 47.5 years (range 21–57 years) and for children 10 years (range 5–17 years). There were no differences between children and adults in mean percent dose of sugar recovered. The time of peak urinary recovery of the sugars was generally similar between children and adults. Sucrose urinary recovery declined with age (P = 0.008; r2 = 0.19) unrelated to sex. Lactulose and sucralose urinary recovery declined with age in females (P = 0.05, r2 = 0.24 and P = 0.011, r2 = 0.41; respectively) but not in males.Conclusions:Overall, sugar urinary recovery is comparable in children and adults. Specific sugar urinary recovery may change as a function of age and/or sex. These results need to be taken into account when planning and interpreting gastrointestinal permeability studies.
Functional Constipation in Children: A Systematic Review on Prognosis and Predictive Factors
Authors: Pijpers MAM , Bongers MEJ , Benninga MA , Berger MY 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTBackground and Aim:Knowledge regarding prognosis and factors influencing the clinical course of functional constipation in children is important to enable general practitioners and paediatricians to give accurate patient information, to compare treatment strategies, and identify children with high risk for unfavourable outcome. The objective of the study was to investigate and summarize the quantity and quality of evidence on prognosis of childhood constipation with and without treatment and its predictive factors.Methods:An extensive literature search in MEDLINE and Embase was performed to identify prospective follow‐up studies evaluating the prognosis or prognostic determinants of functional constipation. Methodological quality was assessed using a standardised list. Results on prognosis of constipation were statistically pooled, and the influence of prognostic factors was summarised in a best evidence synthesis.Results:The search strategy resulted in a total of 2882 abstracts. Only 14 publications met our inclusion criteria, of which 21% scored high methodological quality. Included studies showed large heterogeneity in study populations and outcome measures. Without regard to these differences, 49.3% ± 11.8% of all of the children followed for 6 to 12 months were found to recover and taken off laxatives. The percentage of children who were free from complaints, regardless of laxative use, after 6 to 12 months was 60.6% ± 19.2%. There is substantial evidence that defecation frequency and a positive family history are not associated with recovery from constipation.Conclusions:The few studies published on prognosis of childhood functional constipation and predictive factors showed large heterogeneity and poor methodological quality. Overall, 60.6% of children are found to be free from symptoms after 6 to 12 months. Recovery rate showed no relation with defecation frequency or positive family history. Based on the present literature, we are unable to identify a group of children with high risk for poor prognosis.
Association of the CLCA1 p.S357N Variant With Meconium Ileus in European Patients With Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: van der Doef HPJ , Slieker MG , Staab D , Alizadeh BZ , Seia M , Colombo C , van der Ent CK , Nickel R , Witt H , Houwen RHJ 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTIn Cftr−/− mice that mostly die because of intestinal obstruction, intestinal expression of Clca3 is decreased, whereas upregulation of Clca3 results in amelioration of intestinal disease. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the p.S357N variant in CLCA1, the human orthologue of Clca3, acts as a modifier gene in a cohort of 682 European patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)–99 patients with meconium ileus. The 357SS genotype was significantly overrepresented in both patients with meconium ileus and also with a severe CFTR genotype (P = 0.009) and in p.F508del homozygotes (P = 0.002). This suggests that CLCA1 has similar important functions in CF‐related intestinal obstruction in humans as in Cftr−/− mice.
Risk Factors, Complications, and Outcomes of Gallstones in Children: A Single‐center Review
Authors: Bogue Conor O , Murphy Amanda J , Gerstle J Ted , Moineddin Rahim , Daneman Alan 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTBackground and Objective:The increasing use of sonography has resulted in an increase in the proportion of children with gallstones who are asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. In adults, the literature supports expectant management of clinically silent gallstones. The evidence for this management approach in children is limited to a number of small series. Our objective was to review the risk factors, complications, and outcomes of gallstones at our institution, particularly in those patients who are asymptomatic at the time of initial diagnosis.Materials and Methods:We reviewed 382 cases of gallstones in children. These patients were diagnosed with sonography. Data on age at diagnosis, presentation, sonographic findings, risk factors, complications, surgery, and follow‐up were collected. A χ2 test was used to compare the complication rates between symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the sample.Results:At diagnosis, 50.5% of children were asymptomatic; these patients were diagnosed at a mean age of 8.23 years. Compared with symptomatic patients, they were less likely to have a hemolytic anemia but more likely to have other risk factors, including cardiac surgery, leukemia and lymphoma, short bowel syndrome, or exposure to total parenteral nutrition or cephalosporins. These patients had a lower rate of complications than the symptomatic patients (4.6% vs 28.2% of symptomatic, P < 0.0001) and only 3.1% developed symptoms that necessitated surgery (vs 59.0% of symptomatic). Of the 58 (15.1%) diagnosed in infancy, 47 (81.0%) were asymptomatic. The infant group also had low rates of complications (8.6%) and cholecystectomy (1.7%). In cases with sonographic follow‐up, resolution of gallstones was demonstrated in 16.5% of asymptomatic patients and in 34.1% of infants.Conclusions:The data suggest that clinically silent gallstones in children and infants are associated with low rates of complications and can be managed conservatively, unless complications occur. Patients with sickle cell disease, spherocytosis, and elliptocytosis had high complication rates and required surgery more often.
Protective immunity induced by a LLO‐deficient Listeria monocytogenes
Authors: Yin Yuelan , Zhang Chenju , Dong Hui , Niu Zhongwei , Pan Zhiming , Huang Jinlin , Jiao Xinan 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a food‐borne pathogen able to cause serious disease in human and animals. Listeriolysin O (LLO), a major virulence factor secreted by this bacterium, is a vacuole‐specific lysin that facilitates bacterial entrance into the host cytosol. Thus, LLO plays a key role in the translocation and intracellular spread of L. monocytogenes. To study the effect of LLO on virulence and immunopotency, a LLO‐deficient L. monocytogenes mutant was constructed using a shuttle vector followed by homologous recombination. The mutant strain had lost hemolytic activity, which resulted in an extremely reduced virulence, 5 logs lower than that of the parent strain, yzuLM4, in BALB/c mice. The number of bacteria detected in the spleens and livers of mice infected with the mutant was greatly reduced, and the bacteria were rapidly eliminated by the host. Kinetics studies in this murine model of infection showed that the invasion ability of the mutant strain was much lower than that of the parent strain. Moreover, immunization with the mutant strain conferred protective immunity against listerial infection. In particular, stimulation with Ag85B240‐259, strong specific Th1 type cellular immunity was elicited by vaccination C57BL/6 mice with hly deficient strain delivering Mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion antigen Ag85B‐ESAT‐6 via intravenous inoculation. These results clearly show that highly attenuated LLO‐deficient L. monocytogenes is an attractive vaccine carrier for delivering heterologous antigens.
Classification of perA sequences and their correlation with autoaggregation in typical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates collected in Japan and Thailand
Authors: Iida Mariko , Okamura Noboru , Yamazaki Mitsugu , Yatsuyanagi Jun , Kurazono Takayuki , Suzuki Rieko , Hiruta Noriaki , Isobe Junko , Seto Kazuko , Kawano Kimiko , Narimatsu Hiroshi , Ratchtrachenchai Orn‐Anong , Okabe Nobuhiko , Ito Kenitiro 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTEnteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains produce a bundle‐forming pilus (BFP) that mediates localized adherence (LA) to intestinal epithelial cells. The major structural subunit of the BFP is bundlin, which is encoded by the bfpA gene located on a large EAF plasmid. The perA gene has been shown to activate genes within the bfp operon. We analyzed perA gene polymorphism among typical (eae‐ and bfpA‐ positive) EPEC strains isolated from healthy and diarrheal persons in Japan (n= 27) and Thailand (n= 26) during the period 1995 to 2007 and compared this with virulence and phenotypic characteristics. Eight genotypes of perA were identified by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA). The strains isolated in Thailand showed strong autoaggregation and had an intact perA, while most of those isolated in Japan showed weak or no autoaggregation, and had a truncated perA due to frameshift mutation. The degree of autoaggregation was well correlated with adherence to HEp‐2 cells, contact hemolysis and BFP expression. Our results showed that functional deficiency due to frameshift mutation and subsequent nonsense mutation in perA reduced BFP expression in typical EPEC strains isolated in Japan.
Histamine induces Th2 activation through the histamine receptor 1 in house dust mite rhinitic but not asthmatic patients
Authors: Botturi K. , Lacoeuille Y. , Vervloet D. , Magnan A. 
Published: February 2010

SummaryBackground
Effects of mast cell‐released histamine on smooth muscle and endothelial cells are considered as responsible of immediate symptoms of anaphylaxis. However, little is known about histamine effects on Th2 lymphocytes, which orchestrate the allergic reaction upstream of mast cells.Objective
We addressed this question in house dust mite (HDM) allergics, according to the presence of rhinitis or asthma and allergen stimulation.Methods
Peripheral blood mononuclear cell from 15 rhinitic and 14 asthmatic HDM‐allergic subjects and 16 controls were cultured with Der p 1 or histamine. The effect of Der p 1 on histamine receptor (H1R and H2R) expression was studied. T‐cell cytokine production was studied upon Der p 1 or histamine stimulation. The role of H1R in histamine effects was assessed with levocetirizine.Results
H1R and H2R are overexpressed on T cells from asthmatic but not from rhinitic subjects. Der p 1 increases H1R expression on CD4+ cells from both allergic groups, and decreases it in controls, on CD4+ and CD8+ subsets. Der p 1 decreases T‐cell H2R expression in asthmatics. Allergen increases IL‐4 and IL‐13 in both allergic groups. Histamine increases Th2 cytokines in rhinitics only, and levocetirizine abolishes this effect. In asthmatics and controls, histamine decreases T‐cell cytokines through a non‐H1R dependent pathway.Conclusion
In rhinitis but not in asthma, histamine is able to increase allergic inflammation by increasing Th2 cytokine production in a positive feedback dependent on H1R. This result could explain in part why H1R antagonists, are very efficient in rhinitis, but not in asthma. Cite this as: K. Botturi, Y. Lacoeuille, D. Vervloet and A. Magnan, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2010 (40) 755–762.
Parent age, lifespan and offspring survival: structured variation in life history in a wild population
Authors: Reid Jane M. , Bignal Eric M. , Bignal Sue , McCracken Davy I. , Bogdanova Maria I. , Monaghan Pat 
Published: February 2010

Summary 1. Understanding the degree to which reproductive success varies with an individual’s age and lifespan, and the degree to which population‐level variation mirrors individual‐level variation, is central to understanding life‐history evolution and the dynamics of age‐structured populations. We quantified variation in the survival probability of offspring, one key component of reproductive success and fitness, in relation to parent age and lifespan in a wild population of red‐billed choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). 2. On average across the study population, the first‐year survival probability of offspring decreased with increasing parent age and lifespan; offspring of old parents were less likely to survive than offspring of young parents, and offspring of long‐lived parents were less likely to survive than offspring of short‐lived parents. 3. However, survival did not vary with parent age across offspring produced by groups of parents that ultimately had similar lifespans. 4. Rather, across offspring produced by young parents, offspring survival decreased with increasing parent lifespan; parents that ultimately had long lifespans produced offspring that survived poorly, even when these parents were breeding at young ages. 5. The average decrease in offspring survival with increasing parent age observed across the population therefore reflected the gradual disappearance of short‐lived parents that produced offspring that survived well, not age‐specific variation in offspring survival within individual parents. 6. The negative correlation between offspring survival and maternal lifespan was strongest when environmental conditions meant that offspring survival was low across the population. 7. These data suggest an environment‐dependent trade‐off between parent and offspring survival, show consistent individual variation in the resolution of this trade‐off that is set early in a parent’s life, and demonstrate that such structured life‐history variation can generate spurious evidence of senescence in key fitness components when measured across a population.
When Thailand was an island – the phylogeny and biogeography of mite harvestmen (Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi, Stylocellidae) in Southeast Asia
Authors: Clouse Ronald M. , Giribet Gonzalo 
Published: February 2010

AbstractAim To develop a comprehensive explanation for the biological diversity of Southeast Asia, especially in the Wallacea and Sundaland regions. This study focuses on a group of arachnids, mite harvestmen, which are thought to be an extremely old group of endemic animals that have been present in the region since most of its land supposedly formed part of the northern rim of the supercontinent Gondwana.Location Eastern Himalayas, Thai‐Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and New Guinea.Methods Approximately 5.6 kb of sequence data were obtained from 110 South‐east Asian Cyphophthalmi specimens. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted under a variety of methods and analytical parameters, and the optimal tree was dated using calibration points derived from fossil data. Event based and paralogy‐free subtree biogeographical analyses were conducted.Results The Southeast Asian family Stylocellidae was recovered as monophyletic, arising on what is now the Thai‐Malay Peninsula and diversifying into three main clades. One clade (Meghalaya, here formally placed in Stylocellidae) expanded north as far as the eastern Himalayas, a second clade entered Borneo and later expanded back across the Sundaland Peninsula to Sumatra, and a third clade expanded out of Borneo into the entire lower part of Sundaland. Molecular dating suggested that Stylocellidae separated from other Cyphophthalmi 295 Ma and began diversifying 258 Ma, and the lineage that inhabits mostly Borneo today began diversifying between 175 and 150 Ma.Main conclusions The topology and molecular dating of our phylogenetic hypothesis suggest that Stylocellidae originated on Gondwana, arrived in Southeast Asia via the Cimmerian palaeocontinent, and subsequently diversified north, then south. Their present distribution in the Indo‐Malay Archipelago is explained largely by a diversification over the Sundaland Peninsula before western Sulawesi departed and the peninsula was extensively inundated.
The differential affinity of the usher for chaperone–subunit complexes is required for assembly of complete pili
Authors: Li Qinyuan , Ng Tony W. , Dodson Karen W. , So Stephane Shu Kin , Bayle Ken‐Michael , Pinkner Jerome S. , Scarlata Suzanne , Hultgren Scott J. , Thanassi David G. 
Published: February 2010

SummaryAttachment to host cells via adhesive surface structures is a prerequisite for the pathogenesis of many bacteria. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli assemble P and type 1 pili for attachment to the host urothelium. Assembly of these pili requires the conserved chaperone/usher pathway, in which a periplasmic chaperone controls the folding of pilus subunits and an outer membrane usher provides a platform for pilus assembly and secretion. The usher has differential affinity for pilus subunits, with highest affinity for the tip‐localized adhesin. Here, we identify residues F21 and R652 of the P pilus usher PapC as functioning in the differential affinity of the usher. R652 is important for high‐affinity binding to the adhesin whereas F21 is important for limiting affinity for the PapA major rod subunit. PapC mutants in these residues are specifically defective for pilus assembly in the presence of PapA, demonstrating that differential affinity of the usher is required for assembly of complete pili. Analysis of PapG deletion mutants demonstrated that the adhesin is not required to initiate P pilus biogenesis. Thus, the differential affinity of the usher may be critical to ensure assembly of functional pilus fibres.
HtrA2/Omi‐immunoreactive intraneuronal inclusions in the anterior horn of patients with sporadic and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) mutant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Kawamoto Y. , Ito H. , Kobayashi Y. , Suzuki Y. , Akiguchi I. , Fujimura H. , Sakoda S. , Kusaka H. , Hirano A. , Takahashi R. 
Published: February 2010

Y. Kawamoto, H. Ito, Y. Kobayashi, Y. Suzuki, I. Akiguchi, H. Fujimura, S. Sakoda, H. Kusaka, A. Hirano and R. Takahashi (2010) Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology36, 331–344 HtrA2/Omi‐immunoreactive intraneuronal inclusions in the anterior horn of patients with sporadic and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) mutant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Aims: HtrA2/Omi is a mitochondrial serine protease that promotes the apoptotic processes, but the relationship between HtrA2/Omi and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is still unknown. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether abnormal expression of HtrA2/Omi occurs in patients with ALS. Methods: We prepared autopsied spinal cord tissues from 7 control subjects, 11 patients with sporadic ALS (SALS) and 4 patients with Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1)‐related familial ALS (FALS). We then performed immunohistochemical studies on HtrA2/Omi using formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded sections from all of the cases. Results: In the control subjects, the anterior horn cells were mildly to moderately immunostained with HtrA2/Omi. In the patients with SALS, strong HtrA2/Omi immunoreactivity was found in some skein‐like inclusions and round hyaline inclusions as well as many spheroids, but Bunina bodies were immunonegative for HtrA2/Omi. In the patients with SOD1‐related FALS, Lewy body‐like hyaline inclusions were observed in three cases and conglomerate inclusions were observed in the remaining case, and both types of inclusions were intensely immunopositive for HtrA2/Omi. Conclusions: These results suggest that abnormal accumulations of HtrA2/Omi may occur in several types of motor neuronal inclusions in the anterior horn from SALS and SOD1‐linked FALS cases, and that HtrA2/Omi may be associated with the pathogenesis of both types of ALS.
Growth, development and chemical characteristics of tobacco lines carrying black root rot resistance derived from Nicotiana glauca (Grah.)
Authors: Trojak‐Goluch A. , Berbeć A. 
Published: February 2010

With 1 figure and 4 tables AbstractFertile sesquidiploid BC1 of interspecific hybrids between N. tabacum cv. ‘Wiślica’ and N. glauca were previously produced to transfer N. glauca‐type resistance into tobacco. Tobacco breeding lines (‘WGL’) BC2F5–BC2F7 carrying black root rot resistance were obtained after one generation of backcrossing to cv. ‘Wiślica’ followed by five to seven generations of selfpollination. A 3‐year study was conducted to compare the agronomic value of ‘WGL’ lines with that of the parental cultivar ‘Wiślica’. Plant height and number of leaves per plant in all ‘WGL’ lines were similar to that of ‘Wiślica’. There were some significant variations for leaf characteristics. The most distinct effect was extended duration of the vegetative stage. All the ‘WGL’ lines showed delayed flowering compared to ‘Wiślica’. The ‘WGL’ lines were inferior to the parental cultivar with regard to weight of 10 dm2 of leaf blade. There were no major differences for nitrogen, sugars and nicotine contents. These results indicate that incorporation of the N. glauca‐type resistance into tobacco genome did not produce negative effects on morphological and chemical traits.
Basal and residual lower esophageal pressures increase in old age in classic achalasia, but not vigorous achalasia
Authors: Jung Kee Wook , Jung Hwoon‐Yong , Yoon In Ja , Kim Do Hoon , Park Hye‐Won , Chung Jun‐Won , Choi Kwi‐Sook , Kim Kyung Jo , Choi Kee Don , Song Ho June , Lee Gin Hyug , Kim Jin‐Ho 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground and Aim:  The relationship between age and esophageal motility parameters (i.e. basal and residual pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter [LES]) remains to be established in achalasia patients, possibly because most previous studies did not distinguish between classic and vigorous achalasia patients. We investigated the relationship between age and esophageal motility parameters in both classic and vigorous achalasia patients.Methods:  A retrospective review of esophageal manometry data in a single center was undertaken. Basal and residual pressure for LES was analyzed. A total of 103 achalasia patients were enrolled, comprising 84 classic and 19 vigorous types. They were subdivided into three different age groups as follows: 21–40 years old (group A), 41–60 years old (group B), and over 60 years old (group C).Results:  In classic achalasia patients (M : F = 27:57, mean age = 44 ± 15 years old) the older age group showed a significantly higher basal LES pressure (49.62 ± 19.63 mmHg) than the younger age group (P < 0.0001). Moreover, the older age group also showed significantly high residual LES pressure (20.46 ± 8.61 mmHg) than the younger age group (P = 0.0006). In contrast, in vigorous achalasia patients (M : F = 12:7, mean age: 47 ± 15 years old) there were no difference between age and motility indices (all P > 0.05).Conclusion:  In classic achalasia patients there appears to be a correlation between age and esophageal motility indices, especially basal and residual LES pressure. Such correlations do not appear to exist for vigorous achalasia patients.