bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Small RNA sequencing reveals miR-642a-3p as a novel adipocyte-specific microRNA and miR-30 as a key regulator of human adipogenesis
Authors: Zaragosi Laure-Emmanuelle , Wdziekonski Brigitte , Brigand Kevin Le , Villageois Phi , Mari Bernard , Waldmann Rainer , Dani Christian , Barbry Pascal 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
Background
In severe obesity, as well as in normal development, the growth of adipose tissue is the result of an increase in adipocyte size and numbers, which is underlain by the stimulation of adipogenic differentiation of precursor cells. A better knowledge of the pathways that regulate adipogenesis is therefore essential for an improved understanding of adipose tissue expansion. As microRNAs (miRNAs) have a critical role in many differentiation processes, our study aimed to identify the role of miRNA-mediated gene silencing in the regulation of adipogenic differentiation.

Results
We used deep sequencing to identify small RNAs that are differentially expressed during adipogenesis of adipose tissue-derived stem cells. This approach revealed the un-annotated miR-642a-3p as a highly adipocyte-specific miRNA. We then focused our study on the miR-30 family, which was also up-regulated during adipogenic differentiation and for which the role in adipogenesis had not yet been elucidated. Inhibition of the miR-30 family blocked adipogenesis, whilst over-expression of miR-30a and miR-30d stimulated this process. We additionally showed that both miR-30a and miR-30d target the transcription factor RUNX2, and stimulate adipogenesis via the modulation of this major regulator of osteogenesis.

Conclusions
Overall, our data suggest that the miR-30 family plays a central role in adipocyte development. Moreover, as adipose tissue-derived stem cells can differentiate into either adipocytes or osteoblasts, the down-regulation of the osteogenesis regulator RUNX2 represents a plausible mechanism by which miR-30 miRNAs may contribute to adipogenic differentiation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells.
Experimental confirmation that vibrations at soft tissue conduction sites induce hearing by way of a new mode of auditory stimulation
Authors: de Jong Marrigje , Perez Ronen , Adelman Cahtia , Chordekar Shai , Rubin Melissa , Kriksunov Leonid , Sohmer Haim 
Published: August 2011

Abstract

Background: A new mode of auditory stimulation has been demonstrated which is through soft tissue conduction (STC). It involves evoking auditory sensations by applying the clinical bone vibrator to the skin over soft tissue (not over bone) sites on the head and neck.

Methods: This study was designed to show that stimulation by STC excites the cochlea in a way similar to that of air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC).

Results: It is shown here that auditory nerve brainstem evoked response (ABR) thresholds in mice and in the fat sand rat to AC, to BC and to STC stimulation are all elevated following administration of drugs (salicylic acid and furosemide) which depress the cochlear amplifier. In addition, the present study brings evidence that STC stimulation is not a variant of BC since the sound pressures recorded in the occluded external auditory canal (the occlusion effect) in response to STC are significantly smaller than that to BC stimulation, though both are of equal loudness.

Conclusions: This new mode, STC, therefore appears to bypass the middle ear mechanisms and consequently may contribute to auditory diagnosis.
Determinants of cardiac disease in newly diagnosed patients with acromegaly: results of a 10 year survey study
Authors: Colao Annamaria , Pivonello Rosario , Grasso Ludovica Francesca Stella , Auriemma Renata Simona , Galdiero Mariano , Savastano Silvia , Lombardi Gaetano 
Published: August 2011

ContextThe most frequent cause of death in acromegaly is cardiomyopathy.ObjectiveTo evaluate determinants of acromegalic cardiomyopathy.DesignObservational, open, controlled, retrospective study.SubjectsTwo hundred and five patients with newly diagnosed active acromegaly (108 women and 97 men; median age 44 years) and 410 non-acromegalic subjects sex- and age-matched with the patients.Main outcome measuresLeft ventricular (LV) mass index (LVMi), transmitral inflow early-to-atrial (E/A) peak velocity ratio, and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) were measured by Doppler echocardiography to determine the prevalence of LV hypertrophy (LVH), diastolic and systolic dysfunction. The role of age, estimated disease duration, body mass index, GH and IGF1 levels, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lipid profile and glucose tolerance in determining different features of the acromegalic cardiomyopathy was investigated.ResultsCompared with controls, the patients had lower E/A, LVEF, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels and higher LVMi, total- and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-R) and HOMA-β. The relative risk to develop mild (odds ratio (OR)=1.67 (1.05–2.66);P=0.027) or severe hypertension (OR=1.58 (1.04–2.32);P=0.027), arrhythmias (OR=4.93 (1.74–15.9);P=0.001), impaired fasting glucose/impaired glucose tolerance (OR=2.65 (1.70–4.13);P<0.0001), diabetes (OR=2.14 (1.34–3.40);P=0.0009), LVH (OR=11.9 (7.4–19.5);P<0.0001), diastolic (OR=3.32 (2.09–5.31);P<0.0001) and systolic dysfunction (OR=14.2 (6.95–32.2);P<0.0001), was higher in acromegaly. The most important predictor of LVH (t=2.4,P=0.02) and systolic dysfunction (t=−2.77,P=0.006) was disease duration and that of diastolic dysfunction was patient's age (t=−3.3,P=0.001). Patients with an estimated disease duration of >10 years had a relative risk to present cardiac complications three times higher than patients with estimated disease duration ≤5 years.ConclusionsThe prevalence of different features of cardiomyopathy is 3.3–14.2 times higher in the acromegalic than in the non-acromegalic population. The major determinant of cardiomyopathy is disease duration.
A case of acromegaly (Greece, 7th century AD)
Authors: Charlier Philippe , Tsigonaki Christina 
Published: August 2011

ObjectiveTo diagnose hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma in dry bones.DesignWe present here the case of a pathological skull from the Byzantine site of Eleutherna (Greece).MethodsA complete anthropological and medical examination of the skull and the whole conserved skeleton was performed in the laboratory.ResultsAll anatomical signs of acromegaly were present on this skull. More importantly, enlargement of the sella turcica clearly indicated the development of a macroadenoma, at the origin of the disease.ConclusionsThis skeletal case, and other ancient ones are discussed, to better describe the history of the disease, and the possibilities of the diagnosis.
Cost of Adaptation and Fitness Effects of Beneficial Mutations inPseudomonas fluorescens
Authors: Bataillon Thomas , Zhang Tianyi , Kassen Rees 
Published: August 2011

AbstractAdaptations are constructed through the sequential substitution of beneficial mutations by natural selection. However, the rarity of beneficial mutations has precluded efforts to describe even their most basic properties. Do beneficial mutations typically confer small or large fitness gains? Are their fitness effects environment specific, or are they broadly beneficial across a range of environments? To answer these questions, we used two subsets (n = 18 and n = 63) of a large library of mutants carrying antibiotic resistance mutations in the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens whose fitness, along with the antibiotic sensitive ancestor, was assayed across 95 novel environments differing in the carbon source available for growth. We explore patterns of genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions and ecological specialization among the 18 mutants initially found superior to the sensitive ancestor in one environment. We find that G×E is remarkably similar between the two sets of mutants and that beneficial mutants are not typically associated with large costs of adaptation. Fitness effects among beneficial mutants depart from a strict exponential distribution: they assume a variety of shapes that are often roughly L shaped but always right truncated. Distributions of (beneficial) fitness effects predicted by a landscape model assuming multiple traits underlying fitness and a single optimum often provide a good description of the empirical distributions in our data. Simulations of data sets containing a mixture of single and double mutants under this landscape show that inferences about the distribution of fitness effects of beneficial mutants is quite robust to contamination by second-site mutations.
Complex Mechanisms Regulate Developmental Expression of thematA(HMG) Mating Type Gene in HomothallicAspergillus nidulans
Authors: Czaja Wioletta , Miller Karen Y , Miller Bruce L 
Published: August 2011

AbstractSexual reproduction is a fundamental developmental process that allows for genetic diversity through the control of zygote formation, recombination, and gametogenesis. The correct regulation of these events is paramount. Sexual reproduction in filamentous fungi, including mating strategy (self-fertilization/homothallism or outcrossing/heterothallism), is determined by the expression of mating type genes at mat loci. Aspergillus nidulans matA encodes a critical regulator that is a fungal ortholog of the hSRY/SOX9 HMG box proteins. In contrast to well-studied outcrossing systems, the molecular basis of homothallism and role of mating type genes during a self-fertile sexual cycle remain largely unknown. In this study the genetic model organism, A. nidulans, has been used to investigate the regulation and molecular functions of the matA mating type gene in a homothallic system. Our data demonstrate that complex regulatory mechanisms underlie functional matA expression during self-fertilization and sexual reproduction in A. nidulans. matA expression is suppressed in vegetative hyphae and is progressively derepressed during the sexual cycle. Elevated levels of matA transcript are required for differentiation of fruiting bodies, karyogamy, meiosis, and efficient formation of meiotic progeny. matA expression is driven from both initiator (Inr) and novel promoter elements that are tightly developmentally regulated by position-dependent and position-independent mechanisms. Deletion of an upstream silencing element, matA SE, results in derepressed expression from wild-type (wt) promoter elements and activation of an additional promoter. These studies provide novel insights into the molecular basis of homothallism in fungi and genetic regulation of sexual reproduction in eukaryotes.
Hybrid Male Sterility in Rice Is Due to Epistatic Interactions with a Pollen Killer Locus
Authors: Kubo Takahiko , Yoshimura Atsushi , Kurata Nori 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
In intraspecific crosses between cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) subspecies indica and japonica, the hybrid male sterility gene S24 causes the selective abortion of male gametes carrying the japonica allele (S24-j) via an allelic interaction in the heterozygous hybrids. In this study, we first examined whether male sterility is due solely to the single locus S24. An analysis of near-isogenic lines (NIL-F1) showed different phenotypes for S24 in different genetic backgrounds. The S24 heterozygote with the japonica genetic background showed male semisterility, but no sterility was found in heterozygotes with the indica background. This result indicates that S24 is regulated epistatically. A QTL analysis of a BC2F1 population revealed a novel sterility locus that interacts with S24 and is found on rice chromosome 2. The locus was named Epistatic Factor for S24 (EFS). Further genetic analyses revealed that S24 causes male sterility when in combination with the homozygous japonica EFS allele (efs-j). The results suggest that efs-j is a recessive sporophytic allele, while the indica allele (EFS-i) can dominantly counteract the pollen sterility caused by S24 heterozygosity. In summary, our results demonstrate that an additional epistatic locus is an essential element in the hybrid sterility caused by allelic interaction at a single locus in rice. This finding provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying hybrid sterility and microsporogenesis.
Cell Architecture: Surrounding Muscle Cells Shape Gland Cell Morphology in the Caenorhabditis elegans Pharynx
Authors: Raharjo Wahyu Hendrati , Ghai Vikas , Dineen Aidan , Bastiani Michael , Gaudet Jeb 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
The acquisition and maintenance of shape is critical for the normal function of most cells. Here we investigate the morphology of the pharyngeal glands of Caenorhabditis elegans. These unicellular glands have long cellular processes that extend discrete lengths through the pharyngeal musculature and terminate at ducts connected to the pharyngeal lumen. From a genetic screen we identified several mutants that affect pharyngeal gland morphology. The most severe such mutant is an allele of sma-1, which encodes a β-spectrin required for embryonic elongation, including elongation of the pharynx. In sma-1 mutants, gland projections form normally but become increasingly abnormal over time, acquiring additional branches, outgrowths, and swelling, suggestive of hypertrophy. Rather than acting in pharyngeal glands, sma-1 functions in the surrounding musculature, suggesting that pharyngeal muscles play a critical role in maintenance of gland morphology by restricting their growth, and analysis of other mutants known to affect pharyngeal muscles supports this hypothesis. We suggest that gland morphology is maintained by a balance of forces from the muscles and the glands.
Axon Response to Guidance Cues Is Stimulated by Acetylcholine in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Xu Yan , Ren Xing-Cong , Quinn Christopher C , Wadsworth William G 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
Gradients of acetylcholine can stimulate growth cone turning when applied to neurons grown in culture, and it has been suggested that acetylcholine could act as a guidance cue. However, the role acetylcholine plays in directing axon migrations in vivo is not clear. Here, we show that acetylcholine positively regulates signaling pathways that mediate axon responses to guidance cues in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutations that disrupt acetylcholine synthesis, transportation, and secretion affect circumferential axon guidance of the AVM neuron and in these mutants exogenously supplied acetylcholine improves AVM circumferential axon guidance. These effects are not observed for the circumferential guidance of the DD and VD motor neuron axons, which are neighbors of the AVM axon. Circumferential guidance is directed by the UNC-6 (netrin) and SLT-1 (slit) extracellular cues, and exogenously supplied acetylcholine can improve AVM axon guidance in mutants when either UNC-6– or SLT-1–induced signaling is disrupted, but not when both signaling pathways are perturbed. Not in any of the mutants does exogenously supplied acetylcholine improve DD and VD axon guidance. The ability of acetylcholine to enhance AVM axon guidance only in the presence of either UNC-6 or SLT-1 indicates that acetylcholine potentiates UNC-6 and SLT-1 guidance activity, rather than acting itself as a guidance cue. Together, our results show that for specific neurons acetylcholine plays an important role in vivo as a modulator of axon responses to guidance cues.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma in HIV-Infected Patients: Check Early, Treat Hard
Authors: Berretta Massimiliano , Garlassi Elisa , Cacopardo Bruno , Cappellani Alessandro , Guaraldi Giovanni , Cocchi Stefania , De Paoli Paolo , Lleshi Arben , Izzi Immacolata , Torresin Augusta , Di Gangi Pietro , Pietrangelo Antonello , Ferrari Mariachiara , Bearz Alessandra , Berretta Salvatore , Nasti Guglielmo , Di Benedetto Fabrizio , Balestreri Luca , Tirelli Umberto , Ventura Paolo 
Published: August 2011

Abstract

Purpose.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an increasing cause of mortality in HIV-infected patients in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. The aims of this study were to describe HCC tumor characteristics and different therapeutic approaches, to evaluate patient survival time from HCC diagnosis, and to identify clinical prognostic predictors in patients with and without HIV infection.

Patients and Methods.
A multicenter observational retrospective comparison of 104 HIV-infected patients and 484 uninfected patients was performed in four Italian centers. HCC was staged according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) criteria.

Results.
Tumor characteristics of patients with and without HIV were significantly different for age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) score ≤1, and etiology of chronic liver disease. Despite the similar potentially curative option rate and better BCLC stage at diagnosis, the median survival time was significantly shorter in HIV+ patients. HIV+ patients were less frequently retreated at relapse.
Independent predictors of survival were: BCLC stage, potentially effective HCC therapy, tumor dimension ≤3 cm, HCC diagnosis under a screening program, HCC recurrence, and portal vein thrombosis. Restricting the analysis to HIV+ patients only, all positive prognostic factors were confirmed together with HAART exposure.

Conclusion.
This study confirms a significantly shorter survival time in HIV+ HCC patients. The less aggressive retreatment at recurrence approach does not balance the benefit of younger age and better BCLC stage and PS score of HIV+ patients. Thus, considering the prognosis of HIV+ HCC patients, effective screening techniques, programs, and specific management guidelines are urgently needed.
Cancer Disparities in the Context of Medicaid Insurance: A Comparison of Survival for Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Hodgkin's Lymphoma by Medicaid Enrollment
Authors: Yung Rachel L. , Chen Kun , Abel Gregory A. , Gesten Foster C. , Roohan Patrick J. , Boscoe Francis P. , Sinclair Amber H. , Schymura Maria J. , Schrag Deborah 
Published: August 2011

Abstract

Background.
Because poverty is difficult to measure, its association with outcomes for serious illnesses such as hematologic cancers remains largely uncharacterized. Using Medicaid enrollment as a proxy for poverty, we aimed to assess potential disparities in survival after a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) in a nonelderly population.

Methods.
We used records from the New York (NY) and California (CA) state cancer registries linked to Medicaid enrollment records for these states to identify Medicaid enrolled and nonenrolled patients aged 21–64 years with incident diagnoses of AML or HL in 2002–2006. We compared overall survival for the two groups using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards analyses adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical factors.

Results.
For HL, the adjusted risk for death for Medicaid enrolled compared with nonenrolled patients was 1.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.47–2.68) in NY and 1.89 (95% CI, 1.43–2.49) in CA. In contrast, for AML, Medicaid enrollment had no effect on survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.84–1.19 in NY and hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.89–1.16 in CA). These results persisted despite adjusting for race/ethnicity and other factors.

Conclusions.
Poverty does not affect survival for AML patients but does appear to be associated with survival for HL patients, who, in contrast to AML patients, require complex outpatient treatment. Challenges for the poor in adhering to treatment regimens for HL could explain this disparity and merit further study.
Demographic projection of high‐elevation white pines infected with white pine blister rust: a nonlinear disease model
Authors: Field S. G. , Schoettle A. W. , Klutsch J. G. , Tavener S. J. , Antolin M. F. 
Published: August 2011

Matrix population models have long been used to examine and predict the fate of threatened populations. However, the majority of these efforts concentrate on long‐term equilibrium dynamics of linear systems and their underlying assumptions and, therefore, omit the analysis of transience. Since management decisions are typically concerned with the short term (<100 years), asymptotic analyses could lead to inaccurate conclusions or, worse yet, critical parameters or processes of ecological concern may go undetected altogether.We present a stage‐structured, deterministic, nonlinear, disease model which is parameterized for the population dynamics of high‐elevation white pines in the face of infection with white pine blister rust (WPBR). We evaluate the model using newly developed software to calculate sensitivity and elasticity for nonlinear population models at any projected time step. We concentrate on two points in time, during transience and at equilibrium, and under two scenarios: a regenerating pine stand following environmental disturbance and a stand perturbed by the introduction of WPBR.The model includes strong density‐dependent effects on population dynamics, particularly on seedling recruitment, and results in a structure favoring large trees. However, the introduction of WPBR and its associated disease‐induced mortality alters stand structure in favor of smaller stages. Populations with infection probability (β) ⪆ 0.1 do not reach a stable coexisting equilibrium and deterministically approach extinction.The model enables field observations of low infection prevalence among pine seedlings to be reinterpreted as resulting from disease‐induced mortality and short residence time in the seedling stage.Sensitivities and elasticities, combined with model output, suggest that future efforts should focus on improving estimates of within‐stand competition, infection probability, and infection cost to survivorship. Mitigating these effects where intervention is possible is expected to produce the greatest effect on population dynamics over a typical management timeframe.
Catalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solutions over Ni- and Co- oxide systems
Authors: Stoyanova Maria , Christoskova Stoyanka 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThe oxidative catalytic degradation of the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) with NaOCl in aqueous solutions was studied using individual and iron modified Ni- and Co-oxide systems as catalysts. The adsorption extent and the contribution of the uncatalyzed oxidation on the overall degree of MB were determined. The results indicate that methylene blue—a representative of a class of dyestuffs resistant to biodegradation—could be successfully decolorized and degraded using nickel and cobalt oxide catalysts at room temperature. The highest catalytic activity manifests in the Co-oxide system which is consistent with the adsorption data. The oxidative degradation reaction proceeds via first-order kinetics. Temperature has a relatively small effect on the methylene blue degradation kinetics. The results obtained reveal that the catalysts investigated are suitable for oxidative destruction of methytlene blue dye in wastewaters.
Poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) colloidal particles tagged with Rhodamine 6G: preparation and physicochemical characterization
Authors: Yordanov Georgi , Bedzhova Zorka 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThis paper describes the preparation and characterization of poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) colloidal particles loaded with the organic fluorophore Rhodamine 6G. We studied the physicochemical properties of the colloidal particles: morphology, size-distribution, ζ-potential, fluorescent properties and photobleaching upon UV-light illumination. The properties of the obtained colloidal particles, as well as the dye loading efficiency, were found to depend on the concentrations of ethyl cyanoacrylate monomer and Rhodamine 6G in the polymerization medium. The fluorophore release from the colloidal particles in aqueous buffer is also studied.