bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Elective induction for pregnancies at or beyond 41 weeks of gestation and its impact on stillbirths: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Authors: Hussain Arwa Abbas , Yakoob Mohammad Yawar , Imdad Aamer , Bhutta Zulfiqar A 
Published: April 2011

AbstractBackgroundAn important determinant of pregnancy outcome is the timely onset of labor and birth. Prolonged gestation complicates 5% to 10% of all pregnancies and confers increased risk to both the fetus and mother. The purpose of this review was to study the possible impact of induction of labour (IOL) for post-term pregnancies compared to expectant management on stillbirths.MethodsA systematic review of the published studies including randomized controlled trials, quasi- randomized trials and observational studies was conducted. Search engines used were PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the WHO regional databases and hand search of bibliographies. A standardized data abstraction sheet was used. Recommendations have been made for input to the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) model by following standardized guidelines developed by the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG).ResultsA total of 25 studies were included in this review. Meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggests that a policy of elective IOL for pregnancies at or beyond 41 weeks is associated with significantly fewer perinatal deaths (RR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.11-0.88) compared to expectant management, but no significant difference in the incidence of stillbirth (RR= 0.29; 95% CI: 0.06-1.38) was noted. The included trials evaluating this intervention were small, with few events in the intervention and control group. There was significant decrease in incidence of neonatal morbidity from meconium aspiration (RR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.23-0.79) and macrosomia (RR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.54 – 0.98). Using CHERG rules, we recommended 69% reduction as a point estimate for the risk of stillbirth with IOL for prolonged gestation (> 41 weeks).ConclusionsInduction of labour appears to be an effective way of reducing perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with post-term pregnancies. It should be offered to women with post-term pregnancies after discussing the benefits and risks of induction of labor.
High-fat diet feeding alters metabolic response to fasting/non fasting conditions. Effect on caveolin expression and insulin signalling
Authors: Gómez-Ruiz Ana , Milagro Fermín I , Campión Javier , Martínez J Alfredo , de Miguel Carlos 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
The effect of food intake on caveolin expression in relation to insulin signalling was studied in skeletal muscle and adipocytes from retroperitoneal (RP) and subcutaneous (SC) adipose tissue, comparing fasted (F) to not fasted (NF) rats that had been fed a control or high-fat (HF) diet for 72 days.

Methods
Serum glucose was analysed enzymatically and insulin and leptin by ELISA. Caveolins and insulin signalling intermediaries (IR, IRS-1 and 2 and GLUT4) were determined by RT-PCR and western blotting. Caveolin and IR phosphorylation was measured by immunoprecipitation. Data were analysed with Mann-Whitney U test.

Results
High-fat fed animals showed metabolic alterations and developed obesity and insulin resistance. In skeletal muscle, food intake (NF) induced activation of IR and increased expression of IRS-2 in control animals with normal metabolic response. HF animals became overweight, hyperglycaemic, hyperinsulinemic, hyperleptinemic and showed insulin resistance. In skeletal muscle of these animals, food intake (NF) also induced IRS-2 expression together with IR, although this was not active. Caveolin 3 expression in this tissue was increased by food intake (NF) in animals fed either diet. In RP adipocytes of control animals, food intake (NF) decreased IR and IRS-2 expression but increased that of GLUT4. A similar but less intense response was found in SC adipocytes. Food intake (NF) did not change caveolin expression in RP adipocytes with either diet, but in SC adipocytes of HF animals a reduction was observed. Food intake (NF) decreased caveolin-1 phosphorylation in RP but increased it in SC adipocytes of control animals, whereas it increased caveolin-2 phosphorylation in both types of adipocytes independently of the diet.

Conclusions
Animals fed a control-diet show a normal response to food intake (NF), with activation of the insulin signalling pathway but without appreciable changes in caveolin expression, except a small increase of caveolin-3 in muscle. Animals fed a high-fat diet develop metabolic changes that result in insulin signalling impairment. In these animals, caveolin expression in muscle and adipocytes seems to be regulated independently of insulin signalling.
Protective effect of whey proteins against nonalcoholic fatty liver in rats
Authors: Hamad Essam M , Taha Soad H , Abou Dawood Abdel-Gawad I , Sitohy Mahmoud Z , Abdel-Hamid Mahmoud 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome and can vary from hepatic steatosis to end-stage liver disease. It is the most common liver disease and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. In the present study, the effect of whey proteins on some parameters of NAFLD was investigated.

Results
Oral administration of the studied whey proteins products reduced the final body weight of rats. There was a significant reduction effect (P < 0.05) of the tested proteins on hepatic triglycerides, liver enzymes (ALT and AST), lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde level) and serum glucose. Feeding on whey proteins caused an increase in the reduced glutathione. Hepatic content of reduced glutathione was not affected by any of the used whey proteins, but it showed an increasing tendency (P > 0.05). Liver histology showed an improvement of fatty infiltration in hepatocytes from whey protein groups and gives the histology of liver a normal appearance.

Conclusions
The obtained results indicate a possible role for oral administration of whey proteins in the regulation of liver biochemistries in a rat's model of NAFLD. This regulatory effect of whey proteins was accompanied by an improvement in fatty infiltration in hepatocytes and a reduction of oxidative stress parameters.
Association of TRB3 Q84R polymorphism with polycystic ovary syndrome in Chinese women
Authors: Zhang Xue , Fu Li , Zhang Qiufang , Yan Liying , Ma Yanmin , Tu Binbin , Liu Nana , Qiao Jie 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
Tribbles 3 (TRB3) affects insulin signalling by inhibiting insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation and subsequent activation. A single nucleotide polymorphism located in the second extron of the human TRB3 gene is thought to be associated with insulin resistance. The latter is a core abnormality in PCOS independent of obesity. The present study was designed to clarify the relationships of TRB3 Q84R polymorphism with PCOS in a Chinese women group.

Methods
A case-control study with two groups: PCOS group (n = 336) and control group of infertility women for tubal and/or male factor (n = 116) was performed. Genotyping of the TRB3 R84 variant was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

Results
The frequency of genotype QQ in PCOS women was significantly lower, while genotype QR and RR were significantly higher than that in control group (p < 0.05). However, the difference disappeared after adjustment for BMI. At glucose1h, glucose2h and insulin2h point, the difference between QQ individuals and R84 allele carriers in PCOS women reached statistical significance during OGTT (p < 0.05).

Conclusions
TRB3 Q84R polymorphism is associated with obesity and especially glucose metabolism and not associated with polycystic ovary syndrome because of compositional characteristics of phenotype in Chinese PCOS women.
On the stability of the exact solutions of the dual-phase lagging model of heat conduction
Authors: Ordonez-Miranda Jose , Alvarado-Gil Juan Jose 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe dual-phase lagging (DPL) model has been considered as one of the most promising theoretical approaches to generalize the classical Fourier law for heat conduction involving short time and space scales. Its applicability, potential, equivalences, and possible drawbacks have been discussed in the current literature. In this study, the implications of solving the exact DPL model of heat conduction in a three-dimensional bounded domain solution are explored. Based on the principle of causality, it is shown that the temperature gradient must be always the cause and the heat flux must be the effect in the process of heat transfer under the dual-phase model. This fact establishes explicitly that the single- and DPL models with different physical origins are mathematically equivalent. In addition, taking into account the properties of the Lambert W function and by requiring that the temperature remains stable, in such a way that it does not go to infinity when the time increases, it is shown that the DPL model in its exact form cannot provide a general description of the heat conduction phenomena.
A combination of hard and soft templating for the fabrication of silica hollow microcoils with nanostructured walls
Authors: Rodriguez-Abreu Carlos , Vilanova Neus , Solans Conxita , Ujihara Masaki , Imae Toyoko , López-Quintela Arturo , Motojima Seiji 
Published: April 2011

AbstractHollow silica microcoils have been prepared by using functionalized carbon microcoils as hard templates and surfactant or amphiphilic dye aggregates as soft templates. The obtained materials have been characterized by electron and optical microscopy, nitrogen sorption and small angle X-ray scattering. The obtained hollow microcoils resemble the original hard templates in shape and size. Moreover, they have mesoporous walls (pore size ≈ 3 nm) with some domains where pores are ordered in a hexagonal array, originated from surfactant micelles. The obtained silica microcoils also show preferential adsorption of cationic fluorescent dyes. A mechanism for the formation of silica microcoils is proposed.
Micro-nano hybrid structures with manipulated wettability using a two-step silicon etching on a large area
Authors: Kim Beom Seok , Shin Sangwoo , Shin Seung Jae , Kim Kyung Min , Cho Hyung Hee 
Published: April 2011

AbstractNanoscale surface manipulation technique to control the surface roughness and the wettability is a challenging field for performance enhancement in boiling heat transfer. In this study, micro-nano hybrid structures (MNHS) with hierarchical geometries that lead to maximizing of surface area, roughness, and wettability are developed for the boiling applications. MNHS structures consist of micropillars or microcavities along with nanowires having the length to diameter ratio of about 100:1. MNHS is fabricated by a two-step silicon etching process, which are dry etching for micropattern and electroless silicon wet etching for nanowire synthesis. The fabrication process is readily capable of producing MNHS covering a wafer-scale area. By controlling the removal of polymeric passivation layers deposited during silicon dry etching (Bosch process), we can control the geometries for the hierarchical structure with or without the thin hydrophobic barriers that affect surface wettability. MNHS without sidewalls exhibit superhydrophilic behavior with a contact angle under 10°, whereas those with sidewalls preserved by the passivation layer display more hydrophobic characteristics with a contact angle near 60°.
Functional investigation of grass carp reovirus nonstructural protein NS80
Authors: Cai Lin , Sun Xiaoyun , Shao Ling , Fang Qin 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
Grass Carp Reovirus (GCRV), a highly virulent agent of aquatic animals, has an eleven segmented dsRNA genome encased in a multilayered capsid shell, which encodes twelve proteins including seven structural proteins (VP1-VP7), and five nonstructural proteins (NS80, NS38, NS31, NS26, and NS16). It has been suggested that the protein NS80 plays an important role in the viral replication cycle that is similar to that of its homologous protein μNS in the genus of Orthoreovirus.

Results
As a step to understanding the basis of the part played by NS80 in GCRV replication and particle assembly, we used the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) system to identify NS80 interactions with proteins NS38, VP4, and VP6 as well as NS80 and NS38 self-interactions, while no interactions appeared in the four protein pairs NS38-VP4, NS38-VP6, VP4-VP4, and VP4-VP6. Bioinformatic analyses of NS80 with its corresponding proteins were performed with all currently available homologous protein sequences in ARVs (avian reoviruses) and MRVs (mammalian reoviruses) to predict further potential functional domains of NS80 that are related to VFLS (viral factory-like structures) formation and other roles in viral replication. Two conserved regions spanning from aa (amino acid) residues of 388 to 433, and 562 to 580 were discovered in this study. The second conserved region with corresponding conserved residues Tyr565, His569, Cys571, Asn573, and Glu576 located between the two coiled-coils regions (aa ~513-550 and aa ~615-690) in carboxyl-proximal terminus were supposed to be essential to form VFLS, so that aa residues ranging from 513 to 742 of NS80 was inferred to be the smallest region that is necessary for forming VFLS. The function of the first conserved region including Ala395, Gly419, Asp421, Pro422, Leu438, and Leu443 residues is unclear, but one-third of the amino-terminal region might be species specific, dominating interactions with other viral components.

Conclusions
Our results in this study together with those from previous investigations indicate the protein NS80 might play a central role in VFLS formation and viral components recruitment in GCRV particle assembly, similar to the μNS protein in ARVs and MRVs.
Management of chest keloids
Authors: Park Tae Hwan , Seo Sang Won , Kim June Kyu , Chang Choong Hyun 
Published: April 2011

Abstract
Keloid formation is one of the most challenging clinical problems in wound healing. With increasing frequency of open heart surgery, chest keloid formations are not infrequent in the clinical practice. The numerous treatment methods including surgical excision, intralesional steroid injection, radiation therapy, laser therapy, silicone gel sheeting, and pressure therapy underscore how little is understood about keloids. Keloids have a tendency to recur after surgical excision as a single treatment. Stretching tension is clearly associated with keloid generation, as keloids tend to occur on high tension sites such as chest region. The authors treated 58 chest keloid patients with surgical excision followed by intraoperative and postoperative intralesional steroid injection. Even with minor complications and recurrences, our protocol results in excellent outcomes in cases of chest keloids.
Impact of concomitant aortic regurgitation on long-term outcome after surgical aortic valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis
Authors: Catovic Suad , Popovic Zoran B , Tasic Nebojsa , Nezic Dusko , Milojevic Predrag , Djukanovic Bosko , Gradinac Sinisa , Angelkov Lazar , Otasevic Petar 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
Prognostic value of concomitant aprtic regurgitation (AR) in patients operated for severe aortic stenosis (AS) is not clarified. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the impact of presence and severity of concomitant AR in patients operated for severe AS on long-term functional capacity, left ventricular (LV) function and mortality.

Methods
Study group consisted of 110 consecutive patients operated due to severe AS. The patients were divided into AS group (56 patients with AS without AR or with mild AR) and AS+AR group (54 patients with AS and moderate, severe or very severe AR). Follow-up included clinical examination, six minutes walk test (6MWT) and echocardiography 12 and 104 months after AVR.

Results
Patients in AS group had lower LV volume indices throughout the study than patients in AS+AR group. Patients in AS group did not have postoperative decrease in LV volume indices, whereas patients in AS+AR group experienced decrease in LV volume indices at 12 and 104 months. Unlike LV volume indices, LV mass index was significantly lower in both groups after 12 and 104 months as compared to preoperative values. Mean LVEF remained unchanged in both groups throughout the study. NYHA class was improved in both groups at 12 months, but at 104 months remained improved only in patients with AS. On the other hand, distance covered during 6MWT was longer at 104 months as compared to 12 months only in AS+AR group (p = 0,013), but patients in AS group walked longer at 12 months than patients in AS+AR group (p = 0,002). There were 30 deaths during study period, of which 13 (10 due to cardiovascular causes) in AS group and 17 (12 due to cardiovascular causes) in AS+AR group. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the survival probability was similar between the groups. Multivariate analysis identified diabetes mellitus (beta 1.78, p = 0.038) and LVEF < 45% (beta 1.92, p = 0.049) as the only independent predictor of long-term mortality.

Conclusion
Our data indicate that the preoperative presence and severity of concomitant AR has no influence on long-term postoperative outcome, LV function and functional capacity in patients undergoing AVR for severe AS.
A Boolean probabilistic model of metabolic adaptation to oxygen in relation to iron homeostasis and oxidative stress
Authors: Achcar Fiona , Camadro Jean-Michel , Mestivier Denis 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
In aerobically grown cells, iron homeostasis and oxidative stress are tightly linked processes implicated in a growing number of diseases. The deregulation of iron homeostasis due to gene defects or environmental stresses leads to a wide range of diseases with consequences for cellular metabolism that remain poorly understood. The modelling of iron homeostasis in relation to the main features of metabolism, energy production and oxidative stress may provide new clues to the ways in which changes in biological processes in a normal cell lead to disease.

Results
Using a methodology based on probabilistic Boolean modelling, we constructed the first model of yeast iron homeostasis including oxygen-related reactions in the frame of central metabolism. The resulting model of 642 elements and 1007 reactions was validated by comparing simulations with a large body of experimental results (147 phenotypes and 11 metabolic flux experiments). We removed every gene, thus generating in silico mutants. The simulations of the different mutants gave rise to a remarkably accurate qualitative description of most of the experimental phenotype (overall consistency > 91.5%). A second validation involved analysing the anaerobiosis to aerobiosis transition. Therefore, we compared the simulations of our model with different levels of oxygen to experimental metabolic flux data. The simulations reproducted accurately ten out of the eleven metabolic fluxes. We show here that our probabilistic Boolean modelling strategy provides a useful description of the dynamics of a complex biological system. A clustering analysis of the simulations of all in silico mutations led to the identification of clear phenotypic profiles, thus providing new insights into some metabolic response to stress conditions. Finally, the model was also used to explore several new hypothesis in order to better understand some unexpected phenotypes in given mutants.

Conclusions
All these results show that this model, and the underlying modelling strategy, are powerful tools for improving our understanding of complex biological problems.
A computational framework for gene regulatory network inference that combines multiple methods and datasets
Authors: Gupta Rita , Stincone Anna , Antczak Philipp , Durant Sarah , Bicknell Roy , Bikfalvi Andreas , Falciani Francesco 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Background
Reverse engineering in systems biology entails inference of gene regulatory networks from observational data. This data typically include gene expression measurements of wild type and mutant cells in response to a given stimulus. It has been shown that when more than one type of experiment is used in the network inference process the accuracy is higher. Therefore the development of generally applicable and effective methodologies that embed multiple sources of information in a single computational framework is a worthwhile objective.

Results
This paper presents a new method for network inference, which uses multi-objective optimisation (MOO) to integrate multiple inference methods and experiments. We illustrate the potential of the methodology by combining ODE and correlation-based network inference procedures as well as time course and gene inactivation experiments. Here we show that our methodology is effective for a wide spectrum of data sets and method integration strategies.

Conclusions
The approach we present in this paper is flexible and can be used in any scenario that benefits from integration of multiple sources of information and modelling procedures in the inference process. Moreover, the application of this method to two case studies representative of bacteria and vertebrate systems has shown potential in identifying key regulators of important biological processes.
Early finding of chest wall metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in a woman by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scan: a case report
Authors: Yang Lixin , Marx Howard , Yen Yun 
Published: April 2011

Abstract

Introduction
The use of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography to evaluate well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas is facing critical problems. It is reported that the activity of fluorodeoxyglucose-6-phosphatase, which converts fluorodeoxyglucose-6-phosphatase to fluorodeoxyglucose, is high in normal liver cells. However, the enzyme-converting activity of glucose-6-phosphatase of well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas is similar to normal liver tissue. Thus, using fluorodeoxyglucose in diagnosing primary hepatocellular carcinomas is difficult. However, using fluorodeoxyglucose to detect extrahepatic metastasis of hepatocellular carcinomas is still possible.

Case presentation
We describe the case of a 45-year-old Chinese woman who developed a recurrent lesion in the chest wall from a previous surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma. This recurrent lesion was detected first on the basis of a positron emission tomography scan, then on the basis of a computed tomography scan and other clinical tests.

Conclusion
This finding indicates that the positron emission tomography scan is a potentially reliable tool to screen for systemic metastatic disease in patients with hepatocellular carcinomas when other cross-sectional imaging tests such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging are negative.