bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Empirical Correction of Stray Light within the MERIS Oxygen A-Band Channel
Authors: Lindstrot Rasmus , Preusker Rene , Fischer Jürgen 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Spaceborne spectrometers like the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on board the Environmental Satellite (Envisat) are widely used for the remote sensing of atmospheric and oceanic properties and make an important contribution to the monitoring of the earth’s atmosphere system. To enable retrievals with high accuracy, the spectral and radiometric properties of the instruments have to be characterized with high precision. One of the main sources of radiometric errors is stray light caused by multiple reflections and scattering at the optical elements within the instruments. If not corrected for properly, the stray light–induced offsets of measured intensity can lead to significant errors in the derived parameters. The effect of stray light is particularly momentous in the case of measurements inside strong absorption bands like the oxygen A band at 0.76 μm or the ρστ absorption band of water vapor around 0.9 μm. For example, the retrieval of surface and cloud-top pressure from MERIS measurements in the O2 A band can be biased because of an insufficient correction of stray light in the operational processing chain.
To correct for the residual stray light influence after the operational stray light correction in the O2 A-band channel of MERIS, an empirical stray light correction of the measured radiance at 0.76 μm has been developed based on optimizing the coefficients of a simple brightness-dependent stray light model. The optimal model coefficients were found by adjusting the retrievals of surface and cloud-top pressure to accurate reference data for several selected scenes. To account for the limited accuracy of the MERIS spectral calibration, the center wavelength of the O2 A-band channel was additionally adjusted within a ±0.1-nm tolerance range. The correction was tested on a variety of clear and cloudy scenes at different locations by applying the surface and cloud-top pressure retrieval algorithms to data recorded over the whole lifetime of MERIS. The results indicate the potential to greatly improve the accuracy of the retrieved pressure values using the proposed correction factors.
Data Evaluation for a Newly Developed Slack-Line Mooring Buoy Deployed in the Eastern Indian Ocean
Authors: Ueki Iwao , Fujii Nobuhiro , Masumoto Yukio , Mizuno Keisuke 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
For the purpose of climate research and forecasting the Research Moored Array for African–Asian–Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) in the Indian Ocean has been planned. Development of RAMA has been gradually accelerated in recent years as a multinational effort. To promote RAMA the authors have developed a small size buoy system, which uses the slack-line mooring method, intended for the easy handling of maintenance on a relatively small vessel. The authors have also conducted a field experiment of the simultaneous deployment of new slack-line mooring and conventional taut-line mooring in the eastern Indian Ocean. This paper describes the performance of the newly developed buoy system, especially the data consistency against the taut-line mooring system, which is usually used for a tropical moored buoy array. Although the slack-line mooring method has the advantage of downsizing the total mooring system, it also has the disadvantage of having relatively large vertical shifts of installed sensors produced by a large migration of the surface buoy. To offset this disadvantage to a certain extent, a data reconstruction method has been developed and evaluated. Through the data comparison between both mooring systems, it is confirmed that the reconstructed data of the newly developed buoy can basically capture the same features as that observed with a conventional taut-line mooring system. The maximum mean difference of −0.16°C and the maximum root-mean-square (RMS) difference of 0.58°C for temperature appeared within the thermocline layer, whereas the maximum mean difference of 0.02 and the maximum RMS difference of 0.09 for salinity appeared within the mixed layer. Considering a distance of 8 n mi between the two moorings, these values are acceptable for regarding that the two moorings can observe same feature. Results of this study support the introduction of various types of mooring systems for a multinational approach of RAMA and contribute to the further progress of RAMA, climate research, and forecasting.
Am“B”valent: anti-CD20 antibodies unravel the dual role of B cells in immunopathogenesis
Authors: Thaunat Olivier , Morelon Emmanuel , Defrance Thierry 
Published: March 2010

AbstractAccumulating evidence has designated B cells as central players in the pathogenesis of immune diseases. In the late 1990s, anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies were developed for the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, offering the opportunity to efficiently deplete the B-cell compartment for therapeutic immunointerventions. Several studies have since established the beneficial effect of this drug on the course of a wide range of immune diseases. However, paradoxically, it has also been reported that rituximab sometimes worsens the symptoms of the very same conditions. The explanation that reconciles such apparently conflicting results has recently emerged from basic studies, which demonstrate that (1) B cells are also endowed with immune-regulatory properties and (2) the opposing contributions of B cells may overlap during the course of the disease. Caution should therefore be exercised when considering B-cell depletion because the therapeutic effect will depend on the relative contributions of the opposing B-cell activities at the time of the drug administration.
Hereditary spherocytosis and hereditary elliptocytosis: aberrant protein sorting during erythroblast enucleation
Authors: Salomao Marcela , Chen Ke , Villalobos Jonathan , Mohandas Narla , An Xiuli , Chasis Joel Anne 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
During erythroblast enucleation, membrane proteins distribute between extruded nuclei and reticulocytes. In hereditary spherocytosis (HS) and hereditary elliptocytosis (HE), deficiencies of membrane proteins, in addition to those encoded by the mutant gene, occur. Elliptocytes, resulting from protein 4.1R gene mutations, lack not only 4.1R but also glycophorin C, which links the cytoskeleton and bilayer. In HS resulting from ankyrin-1 mutations, band 3, Rh-associated antigen, and glycophorin A are deficient. The current study was undertaken to explore whether aberrant protein sorting, during enucleation, creates these membrane-spanning protein deficiencies. We found that although glycophorin C sorts to reticulocytes normally, it distributes to nuclei in 4.1R-deficient HE cells. Further, glycophorin A and Rh-associated antigen, which normally partition predominantly to reticulocytes, distribute to both nuclei and reticulocytes in an ankyrin-1–deficient murine model of HS. We conclude that aberrant protein sorting is one mechanistic basis for protein deficiencies in HE and HS.
Metabolic modeling and analysis of the metabolic switch in Streptomyces coelicolor
Authors: Alam Mohammad T , Merlo Maria E ,   The STREAM Consortium, Hodgson David A , Wellington Elizabeth MH , Takano Eriko , Breitling Rainer 
Published: March 2010

Abstract

Background
The transition from exponential to stationary phase in Streptomyces coelicolor is accompanied by a major metabolic switch and results in a strong activation of secondary metabolism. Here we have explored the underlying reorganization of the metabolome by combining computational predictions based on constraint-based modeling and detailed transcriptomics time course observations.

Results
We reconstructed the stoichiometric matrix of S. coelicolor, including the major antibiotic biosynthesis pathways, and performed flux balance analysis to predict flux changes that occur when the cell switches from biomass to antibiotic production. We defined the model input based on observed fermenter culture data and used a dynamically varying objective function to represent the metabolic switch. The predicted fluxes of many genes show highly significant correlation to the time series of the corresponding gene expression data. Individual mispredictions identify novel links between antibiotic production and primary metabolism.

Conclusion
Our results show the usefulness of constraint-based modeling for providing a detailed interpretation of time course gene expression data.
Effects of CYP2B6 G516T polymorphisms on plasma efavirenz and nevirapine levels when co-administered with rifampicin in HIV/TB co-infected Thai adults
Authors: Uttayamakul Sumonmal , Likanonsakul Sirirat , Manosuthi Weerawat , Wichukchinda Nuanjun , Kalambaheti Thareerat , Nakayama Emi E , Shioda Tatsuo , Khusmith Srisin 
Published: March 2010

AbstractBackgroundCytochrome P450 2B6(CYP2B6)metabolizes efavirenz and nevirapine, the major core antiretroviral drugs for HIV in Thailand. Rifampicin, a critical component of tuberculosis (TB) therapy is a potent inducer of CYP enzyme activity. Polymorphisms ofCYP2B6andCYP3A4are associated with altered activity of hepatic enzyme in the liver and pharmacokinetics resulting in treatment efficacy. This study aimed to investigate whetherCYP2B6orCYP3A4polymorphisms had effects on plasma efavirenz and nevirapine concentrations when co-administered with rifampicin in HIV/TB co-infected Thai adults.ResultsWe studied 124 rifampicin recipients with concurrent HIV-1/TB coinfection, receiving efavirenz (600 mg/day) (n = 65) or nevirapine (400 mg/day) (n = 59) based antiretroviral therapy (ART). The frequencies of GG, GT and TT genotypes ofCYP2B6-G516T were 38.46%, 47.69% and 13.85% in efavirenz group and 44.07%, 52.54% and 3.39% in nevirapine group, respectively. The mean 12-hour post-dose plasma efavirenz concentration in patients with TT genotype at weeks 6 and 12 of ART and 1 month after rifampicin discontinuation (10.97 ± 2.32, 13.62 ± 4.21 and 8.48 ± 1.30 mg/L, respectively) were significantly higher than those with GT (3.43 ± 0.29, 3.35 ± 0.27 and 3.21 ± 0.22 mg/L, respectively) (p < 0.0001) or GG genotypes (2.88 ± 0.33, 2.45 ± 0.26 and 2.08 ± 0.16 mg/L, respectively) (p < 0.0001). Likewise, the mean 12-hour post-dose plasma nevirapine concentration in patients carrying TT genotype at weeks 6 and 12 of ART and 1 month after rifampicin discontinuation (14.09 ± 9.49, 7.94 ± 2.76 and 9.44 ± 0.17 mg/L, respectively) tended to be higher than those carrying GT (5.65 ± 0.54, 5.58 ± 0.48 and 7.03 ± 0.64 mg/L, respectively) or GG genotypes (5.42 ± 0.48, 5.34 ± 0.50 and 6.43 ± 0.64 mg/L, respectively) (p = 0.003, p = 0.409 and p = 0.448, respectively). Compared with the effects ofCYP2B6-516TT genotype, we could observe only small effects of rifampicin on plasma efavirenz and nevirapine levels. After 12 weeks of both drug regimens, there was a trend towards higher percentage of patients withCYP2B6-TT genotype who achieved HIV-1 RNA levels <50 copies/mL compared to those with GT or GG genotypes. This is the first report to demonstrate the effects ofCYP2B6G516T polymorphisms on plasma efavirenz and nevirapine concentrations when co-administered with rifampicin in HIV/TB co-infected Thai adults.ConclusionsCYP2B6-TT genotype had impact on plasma efavirenz and nevirapine concentrations, while rifampicin co-administration had only small effects.
'Offensive' snakes: cultural beliefs and practices related to snakebites in a Brazilian rural settlement
Authors: Fita Dídac S , Neto Eraldo Costa M , Schiavetti Alexandre 
Published: March 2010

AbstractThis paper records the meaning of the term 'offense' and the folk knowledge related to local beliefs and practices of folk medicine that prevent and treat snake bites, as well as the implications for the conservation of snakes in the county of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, Brazil. The data was recorded from September to November 2006 by means of open-ended interviews performed with 74 individuals of both genders, whose ages ranged from 4 to 89 years old. The results show that the local terms biting, stinging and pricking are synonymous and used as equivalent to offending. All these terms mean to attack. A total of 23 types of 'snakes' were recorded, based on their local names. Four of them are Viperidae, which were considered the most dangerous to humans, besides causing more aversion and fear in the population. In general, local people have strong negative behavior towards snakes, killing them whenever possible. Until the antivenom was present and available, the locals used only charms, prayers and homemade remedies to treat or protect themselves and others from snake bites. Nowadays, people do not pay attention to these things because, basically, the antivenom is now easily obtained at regional hospitals. It is understood that the ethnozoological knowledge, customs and popular practices of the Pedra Branca inhabitants result in a valuable cultural resource which should be considered in every discussion regarding public health, sanitation and practices of traditional medicine, as well as in faunistic studies and conservation strategies for local biological diversity.
Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar trophozoites in the liver of hamsters: in vivo binding of antibodies and complement
Authors: Costa Cássia AX , Nunes Álvaro C , Ferreira Anderson J , Gomes Maria A , Caliari Marcelo V 
Published: March 2010

AbstractBackgroundHuman amoebiasis is caused by the parasitic protozoanEntamoeba histolyticathat lives in the large intestine of hosts, where can produce asymptomatic colonization until severe invasive infections with blood diarrhea and spreading to other organs. The amoebic abscesses in liver are the most frequent form of amoebiasis outside intestine and still there are doubts about the pathogenic mechanisms involved in their formation. In this study we evaluated thein situbinding of antibodies, C3 and C9 complement components on trophozoites, in livers of hamsters infected withE. histolyticaorE. dispar. These parameters were correlated with the extension of the hepatic lesions observed in these animals and with trophozoites survivor.MethodsHamsters were inoculated intra-hepatically with 100,000 trophozoites ofE. histolyticaorE. disparstrain and necropsied 12, 24, 48, 72, 144 and 192 h after inoculation. Antibodies, C3 and C9 binding to trophozoites were detected by immunohistochemistry. The estimation of the necrosis area and the number of labeled trophozoites was performed using digital morphometry analysis.ResultsIn the liver sections of animals inoculated with the amoebas, the binding of antibodies toE. histolyticatrophozoites was significantly lower than toE. dispartrophozoites. Trophozoites ofE. disparwere also more frequently vacuolated and high labeled cellular debris observed in the lesions. Positive diffuse reaction to C3 complement component was more intense in livers of animals inoculated withE. histolyticaafter 24 and 72 h of infection. C3(+)and C9(+)trophozoites were detected in the vascular lumen, granulomas and inside and in the border of necrotic areas of both infected group animals. C3(+)and C9(+)trophozoite debris immunostaining was higher in livers ofE. disparthan in livers ofE. histolytica. A positive correlation between necrotic areas and number of C9(+)trophozoites was observed in animals inoculated withE. dispar.ConclusionMorphological and immunohistochemical results suggest that antibodies and complement are able to bind and destroy some trophozoites in the liver of experimentally infected hamsters, perhaps selecting the more resistant parasites which are responsible by progression of amoebic abscesses. The findings indicate thatE. histolyticapossesses an enhanced abilityin vivoto evade the immune responses compared toE. dispar, although it also causes experimental hepatic lesions.
Biomarker-Based Risk Stratification for Previously Untreated Medullary Thyroid Cancer
Authors: Machens Andreas , Dralle Henning 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Context: Preoperative neck ultrasonography may yield false-negative findings in more than one-third of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) patients. If not cleared promptly, cervical lymph node metastases may emerge subsequently. Reoperations entail an excess risk of surgical morbidity and may be avoidable.
Objective: This comprehensive investigation aimed to evaluate in a head-to-head comparison the clinical utility of pretherapeutic biomarker serum levels (basal calcitonin; stimulated calcitonin; carcinoembryonic antigen) for indicating extent of disease and providing biochemical stratification of pretherapeutic MTC risk.
Design: This was a retrospective analysis.
Setting: The setting was a tertiary referral center.
Patients: Included were 300 consecutive patients with previously untreated MTC.
Interventions: The intervention was compartment-oriented surgery.
Main Outcome Measure: Stratified biomarker levels were correlated with histopathologic extent of disease.
Results: Higher biomarker levels reflected larger primary tumors and more lymph node metastases. Stratified basal calcitonin serum levels correlated better (r = 0.59) with the number of lymph node metastases than carcinoembryonic antigen (r = 0.47) or pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin (r = 0.40) levels. Lymph node metastases were present in the ipsilateral central and lateral neck, contralateral central neck, contralateral lateral neck, and upper mediastinum, respectively, beyond basal calcitonin thresholds of 20, 50, 200, and 500 pg/ml. Bilateral compartment-oriented neck surgery achieved biochemical cure in at least half the patients with pretherapeutic basal calcitonin levels of 1,000 pg/ml or less but not in patients with levels greater than 10,000 pg/ml.
Conclusions: Most newly diagnosed MTC patients, i.e. those with pretherapeutic basal calcitonin levels greater than 200 pg/ml, may need bilateral compartment-oriented neck surgery to reduce the number of reoperations.
Representation, Distribution, and Formation of Sexuality in the Photography of Araki Nobuyoshi
Authors: Hiroko Hagiwara 
Published: March 2010

The aim of this essay is to suggest a way to see and discuss a body of Araki Nobuyoshi's later photographic work that centers on images of bound and naked women. Araki has prolifically exhibited and published provocative photographs for over thirty years in Japan and for some years in the West. While it seems difficult to differentiate his images from crude exploitation and general degradation of women, his photographs attract many female fans. I argue that we are invited and directed to see his photographs in ways that “engender” the viewer. I focus on the “Araki industry,” which has made orchestrated efforts to produce hundreds of publications and a self-promoting discourse. I also examine how a personal cult is promoted through the sale of these images, and the indispensable role this self-promoting discourse plays in sustaining this industry, while more challenging and serious critiques are downplayed and sometimes do not make their way into print.
Araki's recent exhibitions were enthusiastically received in the West. A series of photographs of bound naked women in kimonos dazzles Western eyes. I proceed to analyze orientalist contradictions based on the Western reviewers' double standard. To discuss sexual images such as Araki's work in a dualist perspective, Japan versus the West, only leads to exoticization of the cultural other. But their orientalist bias does not interrupt the photographer's project. Instead, any kind of Western attention is welcomed as proof of the photographer's success in the West.
Araki's work has been reviewed not only as sexually excessive but also as desolately asexual. Araki's photographs are open to both readings, while other readings are not encouraged. In fact sexual excess and sexual desolation, as defined from a male point of view and supported by big sale, are not very different from each other for women.
There is a magnetic field around Araki's work, where smooth and profitable distribution on the art market is powerfully promoted. Any interference with this process is driven back, and any supportive element, including orientalist fantasy, is appropriated. The photographs for exhibition and publication are carefully selected.
If our sexuality is formulated through exposure to sexual images, analyzing photographic work such as Araki's requires that we focus on the whole process from production to distribution and consumption.
Behavioral choice across leech species: chacun à son goût
Authors: Gaudry Q. , Ruiz N. , Huang T. , Kristan W. B. , Kristan W. B. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYAt any one time, animals are simultaneously bombarded with many sensory stimuli, but they typically choose to respond to only a few of them. We used multidimensional analysis to determine the behavioral responses of six species of leeches to stimulation, as the responses are affected by species identity, diet, behavioral state and stimulus location. Our results show that each of the species tested while not feeding displayed remarkably similar behaviors in response to tactile stimulation of the surface of the body. When not feeding, stimulus location was the most reliable factor in determining behavioral response. While feeding, the three sanguivorous (bloodsucking) species tested ignored stimulation, whereas the three carnivorous leeches abandoned feeding in favor of locomotory responses, regardless of phylogenetic relationships. In the sanguivorous leeches, feeding abolished all mechanically elicited responses and mechanical stimulation in turn had no effect on feeding. We also show that the behavioral hierarchy of leeches was fixed and unchanging even in species that can consume both a carnivorous and a sanguivorous diet.
A retrospective analysis of ambulatory burn patients: focus on wound dressings and healing times
Authors: Gravante Gianpiero , Montone Antonio 
Published: March 2010

INTRODUCTION In this study, we retrospectively analysed healing times of ambulatory burn patients after silver-based dressings were introduced in late December 2005, and compared the results with those obtained before. PATIENTS AND METHODS Data were collected in November–December 2005 and in January–February 2006. We excluded from the study: (i) admitted patients; (ii) patients with mixed superficial partial thickness and deep partial thickness burns; (iii) patients with full-thickness burns; and (iv) operated patients that came for follow-up. We recorded the age, sex, cause (flame vs scald), burn depth, dressings used and healing times. RESULTS We selected 347 patients corresponding to 455 burned areas (64.4% superficial and 35.6% deep; 47.7% treated in 2005 and 52.3% in 2006). During the years 2005 and 2006, there was an increase in the use of silver-based dressings (2005, 9.7%; 2006, 38.7%; chi-squared test, P < 0.001) and a decrease in the use of paraffin gauzes (2005, 66.4%; 2006, 40.3%; chi-squared test, P < 0.001). The healing time of overall burns and of superficial burns showed no significant differences between 2005 and 2006. However, in deep partial thickness burns, a significant reduction was present (2006, 19; 2005, 29 days; Student's t-test, P < 0.01). Among all dressings, paraffin gauzes had the shortest healing times in superficial burns (5 days); with silver-based dressings in deep burns, the healing times were nanocrystalline silver (16 days) and silver carboxymethylcellulose (21 days). CONCLUSIONS Results of our retrospective study would suggest that paraffin gauzes are a valuable option in superficial burns, while silver-based dressings are preferable in deep burns.