bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The issues of territorial excellence: building quality of city life with citizens
Authors: Dommergues Pierre 
Published: January 2010

The quest for quality, or excellence, is virtually universal. In the search for competitiveness, firms embarked upon this path in the 1980s. The public services followed in the 1990s. Today it is the territorial entities - regions, départements, cities - which have set out to improve their "quality" . This article explores the problems posed by this new search for territorial excellence. Is the quality of a territorial entity (of a city) similar in nature to that of a consumer durable or a service? If it is true that the common denominator of every quest for quality is customer satisfaction, who are the city's "customers" ? Who defines the quality of the city? How can we find organised ways of hearing what the citizens have to say? How are the frequently contradictory interests of the territorial protagonists to be reconciled? How is a project geared to excellence to be put in place? Is it possible to transfer the tools and methods of total quality management to a territory? Only one thing is certain: building the quality of a city is a task to be performed together.
Europe and territories
Authors: Villeneuve Robert 
Published: January 2010

The globalisation of the economy and the building of Community Europe place economic power and political power in a relationship of conflict linked to the differences in the territories in which they take their decisions. This situation of independence and interdependence of the two spheres of power has consequences for the social dialogue: the political powers have to defend security for workers and flexibility for companies. Companies can play upon competitive relocation. However, enterprises of general economic interest are the natural partners of social cohesion. Similarly, the progress made in terms of the Community collective bargaining area promotes harmonisation between the two powers at European level. The brief historical analysis of the European social dialogue and the critical presentation of the guidelines for employment put forward by the Commission demonstrate the strategic role of a "fifth pillar" supported by the territory and the synergy among local players in the development of European inter-regional co-operation. This is the objective of the project entitled Excellence Territoriale. This is the context in which the involvement of the European social partners, genuine intermediaries between the Europe of the institutions and that of the citizens, can be defined.
Individualizing hypertension treatment with impedance cardiography: a meta-analysis of published trials
Authors: Ferrario Carlos M. , Flack John M. , Strobeck John E. , Smits Gerard , Peters Celine 
Published: December 2009

Objective: Hypertension affects 73 million Americans and costs the US healthcare system over $73 billion annually. Despite increasing awareness of the consequences of uncontrolled hypertension, numerous antihypertensive pharmacologic clinical studies and consistent updates to hypertension guidelines, control rates are suboptimal and have not met national goals. Among treated hypertensives, only 45% of women and 51% of men have reached blood pressure (BP) levels below 140/90 mmHg. Individualization of antihypertensive regimens with hemodynamic information from impedance cardiography (ICG) has been advocated to further improve hypertension control rates. We therefore undertook a quantitative analysis of the trials evaluating the role of ICG as an adjunct to therapeutic decision-making in the treatment of hypertension and the attainment of BP control. Methods: Five studies comprising a total population of 759 patients met the inclusion criteria. Two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving a total of 268 patients and three single-arm prospective trials with 491 patients were evaluated using ICG data to guide therapeutic decision-making in the treatment of hypertensive patients. Results: Significant benefit was found in both RCTs for ICG-guided BP treatment. The combined odds ratio for the two trials was 2.41 (95% CI = 1.44-4.05, p = 0.0008), in favor of ICG treatment, meaning that it was more than twice as likely to achieve BP success when using ICG than if ICG was not used. Success attainment of goal BP of <140/90 mmHg was 67% in the ICG-guided arms of the combined randomized trials. Overall success in the single-arm prospective trials of ICG-guided BP treatment was a similar 68%. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis confirm the value of using ICG-derived hemodynamic data as an adjunct to therapeutic decision-making in the treatment of hypertension. The data reviewed here demonstrate that ICG-based approaches are in keeping with previously advocated strategies incorporating patient-individualized drug regimens, evidence-based medicine, and practical, easy to apply, cost-effective principles to further improve hypertension control rates.
Immunoglobulin heavy chain locus chromosomal translocations in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia: rare clinical curios or potent genetic drivers?
Authors: Dyer Martin J. S. , Akasaka Takashi , Capasso Melania , Dusanjh Palminder , Lee Yin Fai , Karran E. Loraine , Nagel Inga , Vater Inga , Cario Gunnar , Siebert Reiner 
Published: December 2009

AbstractChromosomal translocations involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) locus define common subgroups of B-cell lymphoma but are rare in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). Recent fluorescent in situ hybridization and molecular cloning studies have identified several novel IGH translocations involving genes that play important roles in normal hemopoiesis, including the cytokine receptor genes CRLF2 and EPOR, all members of the CCAAT enhancer-binding protein gene family, as well as genes not normally expressed in hemopoietic cells including inhibitor of DNA binding 4. IGH translocation results in deregulated target gene expression because of juxtaposition with IGH transcriptional enhancers. However, many genes targeted by IGH translocations are also more commonly deregulated in BCP-ALL as a consequence of other genetic or epigenetic mechanisms. For example, interstitial genomic deletions also result in deregulated CRLF2 expression, whereas EPOR expression is deregulated as a consequence of the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion. The possible clinical importance of many of the various IGH translocations in BCP-ALL remains to be determined from prospective studies, but CRLF2 expression is associated with a poor prognosis. Despite their rarity, IGH chromosomal translocations in BCP-ALL therefore define not only new mechanisms of B-cell transformation but also clinically important subgroups of disease and suggest new targeted therapeutic approaches.
Verification of the susceptibility loci on 7p12.2, 10q21.2, and 14q11.2 in precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood
Authors: Prasad Rashmi B. , Hosking Fay J. , Vijayakrishnan Jayaram , Papaemmanuil Elli , Koehler Rolf , Greaves Mel , Sheridan Eamonn , Gast Andreas , Kinsey Sally E. , Lightfoot Tracy , Roman Eve , Taylor Malcolm , Pritchard-Jones Kathy , Stanulla Martin , Schrappe Martin , Bartram Claus R. , Houlston Richard S. , Kumar Rajiv , Hemminki Kari 
Published: December 2009

Abstract
Recent genome-wide association data have implicated genetic variation at 7p12.2 (IKZF1), 10q21.2 (ARIDB5), and 14q11.2 (CEBPE) in the etiology of B-cell childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To verify and further examine the relationship between these variants and ALL risk, we genotyped 1384 cases of precursor B-cell childhood ALL and 1877 controls from Germany and the United Kingdom. The combined data provided statistically significant support for an association between genotype at each of these loci and ALL risk; odds ratios (OR), 1.69 (P = 7.51 ×10−22), 1.80 (P = 5.90 × 10−28), and 1.27 (P = 4.90 × 10−6), respectively. Furthermore, the risk of ALL increases with an increasing numbers of variant alleles for the 3 loci (ORper-allele = 1.53, 95% confidence interval, 1.44-1.62; Ptrend = 3.49 × 10−42), consistent with a polygenic model of disease susceptibility. These data provide unambiguous evidence for the role of these variants in defining ALL risk underscoring approximately 64% of cases.
Dengue virus–induced hemorrhage in a nonhuman primate model
Authors: Onlamoon Nattawat , Noisakran Sansanee , Hsiao Hui-Mien , Duncan Alexander , Villinger Francois , Ansari Aftab A. , Perng Guey Chuen 
Published: December 2009

AbstractLack of a dengue hemorrhagic animal model recapitulating human dengue virus infection has been a significant impediment in advancing our understanding of the early events involved in the pathogenesis of dengue disease. In efforts to address this issue, a group of rhesus macaques were intravenously infected with dengue virus serotype 2 (strain 16 681) at 1 × 107 PFU/animal. A classic dengue hemorrhage developed 3 to 5 days after infection in 6 of 6 animals. Blood chemistry appeared to be normal with exception of creatine phosphokinase, which peaked at 7 days after infection. A modest thrombocytopenia and noticeable neutropenia concomitant with slight decrease of hemoglobin and hematocrit were registered. In addition, the concentration of D-dimer was elevated significantly. Viremia peaked at 3 to 5 days after infection followed by an inverse relationship between T and B lymphocytes and a bimodal pattern for platelet-monocytes and platelet-neutrophil aggregates. Dengue virus containing platelets engulfed by monocytes was noted at 8 or 9 days after infection. Thus, rhesus macaques inoculated intravenously with a high dose of dengue virus produced dengue hemorrhage, which may provide a unique platform to define the early events in dengue virus infection and help identify which blood components contribute to the pathogenesis of dengue disease.
Identification of four novel phosphorylation sites in estrogen receptor α: impact on receptor-dependent gene expression and phosphorylation by protein kinase CK2
Authors: Williams Christopher C , Basu Aninda , El-Gharbawy Abeer , Carrier Latonya M , Smith Carolyn L , Rowan Brian G 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Estrogen receptor α (ERα) phosphorylation is important for estrogen-dependent transcription of ER-dependent genes, ligand-independent receptor activation and endocrine therapy response in breast cancer. However ERα phosphorylation at the previously identified sites does not fully account for these receptor functions. To determine if additional ERα phosphorylation sites exist, COS-1 cells expressing human ERα were labeled with [32P]H3PO4
in vivo and ERα tryptic phosphopeptides were isolated to identify phosphorylation sites.

Results
Previously uncharacterized phosphorylation sites at serines 46/47, 282, 294, and 559 were identified by manual Edman degradation and phosphoamino acid analysis and confirmed by mutagenesis and phospho-specific antibodies. Antibodies detected phosphorylation of endogenous ERα in MCF-7, MCF-7-LCC2, and Ishikawa cancer cell lines by immunoblot. Mutation of Ser-282 and Ser-559 to alanine (S282A, S559A) resulted in ligand independent activation of ERα as determined by both ERE-driven reporter gene assays and endogenous pS2 gene expression in transiently transfected HeLa cells. Mutation of Ser-46/47 or Ser-294 to alanine markedly reduced estradiol dependent reporter activation. Additionally protein kinase CK2 was identified as a kinase that phosphorylated ERα at S282 and S559 using motif analysis, in vitro kinase assays, and incubation of cells with CK2 kinase inhibitor.

Conclusion
These novel ERα phosphorylation sites represent new means for modulation of ERα activity. S559 represents the first phosphorylation site identified in the extreme C-terminus (F domain) of a steroid receptor.
Evaluation of fecal mRNA reproducibility via a marginal transformed mixture modeling approach
Authors: George Nysia I , Lupton Joanne R , Turner Nancy D , Chapkin Robert S , Davidson Laurie A , Wang Naisyin 
Published: January 2010

AbstractBackgroundDeveloping and evaluating new technology that enables researchers to recover gene-expression levels of colonic cells from fecal samples could be key to a non-invasive screening tool for early detection of colon cancer. The current study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to investigate and report the reproducibility of fecal microarray data. Using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as a measure of reproducibility and the preliminary analysis of fecal and mucosal data, we assessed the reliability of mixture density estimation and the reproducibility of fecal microarray data. Using Monte Carlo-based methods, we explored whether ICC values should be modeled as a beta-mixture or transformed first and fitted with a normal-mixture. We used outcomes from bootstrapped goodness-of-fit tests to determine which approach is less sensitive toward potential violation of distributional assumptions.ResultsThe graphical examination of both the distributions of ICC and probit-transformed ICC (PT-ICC) clearly shows that there are two components in the distributions. For ICC measurements, which are between 0 and 1, the practice in literature has been to assume that the data points are from a beta-mixture distribution. Nevertheless, in our study we show that the use of a normal-mixture modeling approach on PT-ICC could provide superior performance.ConclusionsWhen modeling ICC values of gene expression levels, using mixture of normals in the probit-transformed (PT) scale is less sensitive toward model mis-specification than using mixture of betas. We show that a biased conclusion could be made if we follow the traditional approach and model the two sets of ICC values using the mixture of betas directly. The problematic estimation arises from the sensitivity of beta-mixtures toward model mis-specification, particularly when there are observations in the neighborhood of the the boundary points, 0 or 1. Since beta-mixture modeling is commonly used in approximating the distribution of measurements between 0 and 1, our findings have important implications beyond the findings of the current study. By using the normal-mixture approach on PT-ICC, we observed the quality of reproducible genes in fecal array data to be comparable to those in mucosal arrays.
A laser pointer driven microheater for precise local heating and conditional gene regulation in vivo. Microheater driven gene regulation in zebrafish
Authors: Placinta Mike , Shen Meng-Chieh , Achermann Marc , Karlstrom Rolf O 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Tissue heating has been employed to study a variety of biological processes, including the study of genes that control embryonic development. Conditional regulation of gene expression is a particularly powerful approach for understanding gene function. One popular method for mis-expressing a gene of interest employs heat-inducible heat shock protein (hsp) promoters. Global heat shock of hsp-promoter-containing transgenic animals induces gene expression throughout all tissues, but does not allow for spatial control. Local heating allows for spatial control of hsp-promoter-driven transgenes, but methods for local heating are cumbersome and variably effective.

Results
We describe a simple, highly controllable, and versatile apparatus for heating biological tissue and other materials on the micron-scale. This microheater employs micron-scale fiber optics and uses an inexpensive laser-pointer as a power source. Optical fibers can be pulled on a standard electrode puller to produce tips of varying sizes that can then be used to reliably heat 20-100 μm targets. We demonstrate precise spatiotemporal control of hsp70l:GFP transgene expression in a variety of tissue types in zebrafish embryos and larvae. We also show how this system can be employed as part of a new method for lineage tracing that would greatly facilitate the study of organogenesis and tissue regulation at any time in the life cycle.

Conclusion
This versatile and simple local heater has broad utility for the study of gene function and for lineage tracing. This system could be used to control hsp-driven gene expression in any organism simply by bringing the fiber optic tip in contact with the tissue of interest. Beyond these uses for the study of gene function, this device has wide-ranging utility in materials science and could easily be adapted for therapeutic purposes in humans.
A genomic glimpse of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Bhatt Tarun Kumar , Kapil Charu , Khan Sameena , Jairajpuri Mohamad Aman , Sharma Vinay , Santoni Daniele , Silvestrini Francesco , Pizzi Elisabetta , Sharma Amit 
Published: December 2009

AbstractBackgroundPlasmodiumparasites are causative agents of malaria which affects >500 million people and claims ~2 million lives annually. The completion ofPlasmodiumgenome sequencing and availability of PlasmoDB database has provided a platform for systematic study of parasite genome. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are pivotal enzymes for protein translation and other vital cellular processes. We report an extensive analysis of thePlasmodium falciparumgenome to identify and classifyaaRSsin this organism.ResultsUsing various computational and bioinformatics tools, we have identified 37aaRSs inP. falciparum. Our key observations are: (i) fraction of proteome dedicated toaaRSs inP. falciparumis very high compared to many other organisms; (ii) 23 out of 37Pf-aaRSsequences contain signal peptides possibly directing them to different cellular organelles; (iii) expression profiles ofPf-aaRSsvary considerably at various life cycle stages of the parasite; (iv) severalPfaaRSsposses very unusual domain architectures; (v) phylogenetic analyses reveal evolutionary relatedness of several parasiteaaRSs to bacterial and plantsaaRSs; (vi) three dimensional structural modelling has provided insights which could be exploited in inhibitor discovery against parasiteaaRSs.ConclusionWe have identified 37Pf-aaRSsbased on our bioinformatics analysis. Our data reveal several unique attributes in this protein family. We have annotated all 37Pf-aaRSsbased on predicted localization, phylogenetics, domain architectures and their overall protein expression profiles. The sets of distinct features elaborated in this work will provide a platform for experimental dissection of this family of enzymes, possibly for the discovery of novel drugs against malaria.
In vitromodeling of host-parasite interactions: the 'subgingival' biofilm challenge of primary human epithelial cells
Authors: Guggenheim Bernhard , Gmür Rudolf , Galicia Johnah C , Stathopoulou Panagiota G , Benakanakere Manjunatha R , Meier André , Thurnheer Thomas , Kinane Denis F 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Microbial biofilms are known to cause an increasing number of chronic inflammatory and infectious conditions. A classical example is chronic periodontal disease, a condition initiated by the subgingival dental plaque biofilm on gingival epithelial tissues. We describe here a new model that permits the examination of interactions between the bacterial biofilm and host cells in general. We use primary human gingival epithelial cells (HGEC) and an in vitro grown biofilm, comprising nine frequently studied and representative subgingival plaque bacteria.

Results
We describe the growth of a mature 'subgingival' in vitro biofilm, its composition during development, its ability to adapt to aerobic conditions and how we expose in vitro a HGEC monolayer to this biofilm. Challenging the host derived HGEC with the biofilm invoked apoptosis in the epithelial cells, triggered release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and in parallel induced rapid degradation of the cytokines by biofilm-generated enzymes.

Conclusion
We developed an experimental in vitro model to study processes taking place in the gingival crevice during the initiation of inflammation. The new model takes into account that the microbial challenge derives from a biofilm community and not from planktonically cultured bacterial strains. It will facilitate easily the introduction of additional host cells such as neutrophils for future biofilm:host cell challenge studies. Our methodology may generate particular interest, as it should be widely applicable to other biofilm-related chronic inflammatory diseases.
Selective control of primer usage in multiplex one-step reverse transcription PCR
Authors: Hidalgo Ashrafi Elena , Yee Joyclyn , Paul Natasha 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Multiplex RT-PCR is a valuable technique used for pathogen identification, disease detection and relative quantification of gene expression. The simplification of this protocol into a one-step procedure saves time and reagents. However, intensive PCR optimization is often required to overcome competing undesired PCR primer extension during the RT step.

Results
Herein, we report multiplex one-step RT-PCR experiments in which the PCR primers contain thermolabile phosphotriester modification groups. The presence of these groups minimizes PCR primer extension during the RT step and allows for control of PCR primer extension until the more stringent, elevated temperatures of PCR are reached. Results reveal that the use of primers whose extension can be controlled in a temperature-mediated way provides improved one-step RT-PCR specificity in both singleplex and multiplex reaction formats.

Conclusions
The need for an accurate and sensitive technique to quantify mRNA expression levels makes the described modified primer technology a promising tool for use in multiplex one-step RT-PCR. A more accurate representation of the abundances in initial template sample is feasible with modified primers, as artifacts of biased PCR are reduced because of greater improvements in reaction specificity.
Magnetic resonance flow velocity and temperature mapping of a shape memory polymer foam device
Authors: Small Ward , Gjersing Erica , Herberg Julie L , Wilson Thomas S , Maitland Duncan J 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Interventional medical devices based on thermally responsive shape memory polymer (SMP) are under development to treat stroke victims. The goals of these catheter-delivered devices include re-establishing blood flow in occluded arteries and preventing aneurysm rupture. Because these devices alter the hemodynamics and dissipate thermal energy during the therapeutic procedure, a first step in the device development process is to investigate fluid velocity and temperature changes following device deployment.

Methods
A laser-heated SMP foam device was deployed in a simplified in vitro vascular model. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques were used to assess the fluid dynamics and thermal changes associated with device deployment.

Results
Spatial maps of the steady-state fluid velocity and temperature change inside and outside the laser-heated SMP foam device were acquired.

Conclusions
Though non-physiological conditions were used in this initial study, the utility of MRI in the development of a thermally-activated SMP foam device has been demonstrated.