bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A dimensional qualitative research approach to understanding medically unnecessary aesthetic surgery
Authors: Markley Rountree Melissa , Davis Lenita 
Published: September 2011

AbstractConsumers spend billions of dollars every year on products and services designed to help improve or change their physical appearance and performance. Such procedures, especially where surgery is involved, are not without risk of adverse consequences such as physical injury, irreversible nerve damage, or even permanent disfigurement. The popularity of appearance‐enhancing cosmetic surgery seems to be rising, despite the many risks associated with it. To qualitatively investigate the complex interplay of relevant factors (including variables related to individual motivation, risk tolerance, self‐concept, and societal standards of beauty), and to organize and analyze the resulting qualitative data, the systematic, psychologically sophisticated blueprint of dimensional qualitative research, or DQR (Cohen, 1999) was employed. Through in‐depth interviews, content analysis of written material found on the Internet, and three focus groups, an effort was made to better understand consumer motivation for cosmetic surgery where there was no medical necessity. Findings and implications of this research are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
pH Dependent Elasticity of Polystyrene‐block‐poly(acrylic acid) Vesicle Shell Membranes by Atomic Force Microscopy
Authors: Chen Qi , Vancso G. Julius 
Published: September 2011

AbstractWe assess the elastic properties of PS‐b‐PAA vesicle membranes under different pH values by AFM force measurements. We find that based on the shell deformation theory, the values of the estimated apparent Young's modulus of the vesicle membranes decrease as the pH of the solution increases. The onset of the decrease of E coincides with the surface pKa determined from ζ‐potential measurements. This decrease of E at higher pH is attributed to electrostatic repulsion between the deprotonated PAA chains resulting in the thinning of the vesicle membrane.magnified image
Self‐Assembly of Poly(2‐alkyl‐2‐oxazoline)s by Crystallization in Ethanol–Water Mixtures Below the Upper Critical Solution Temperature
Authors: Diehl Christina , Dambowsky Ina , Hoogenboom Richard , Schlaad Helmut 
Published: September 2011

AbstractCrystallization of poly(2‐isobutyl‐2‐oxazoline) and poly(2‐nonyl‐2‐oxazoline) is found to occur by room temperature annealing below the upper critical solution temperature in ethanol–water solvent mixtures. Both polymers produce similar self‐assembled structures (see image), resembling the previously reported crystalline hierarchical structures obtained from hot aqueous poly(2‐isopropyl‐2‐oxazoline) solutions above the lower critical solution temperature. These observations suggest that the crystallization induced self‐assembly process is a rather general phenomenon occurring for semicrystalline polymers in liquid–liquid two phase systems.magnified image
Nickel(II) α‐Diimine Catalyst for Grignard Metathesis (GRIM) Polymerization
Authors: Magurudeniya Harsha D. , Sista Prakash , Westbrook Jacob K. , Ourso Taryn E. , Nguyen Khuong , Maher Marie C. , Alemseghed Mussie G. , Biewer Michael C. , Stefan Mihaela C. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractA nickel α‐diimine catalyst was used for Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization of 2,5‐dibromo 3‐hexylthiophene and 2‐bromo‐5‐iodo‐3‐hexylthiophene monomers. GRIM polymerization of 2‐bromo‐5‐iodo‐3‐hexylthiophene generated regioregular polymers with molecular weights ranging from 3 000 to 12 000 g · mol−1. The nickel α‐diimine catalyst was also successfully used for the GRIM polymerization of a bulky benzodithiophene monomer.magnified image
Polymer Brushes with Phototriggered and Phototunable Swelling and pH Response
Authors: Cui Jiaxi , Azzaroni Omar , del Campo Aránzazu 
Published: September 2011

AbstractPhotolabile polymer brushes with tailored length containing a photoremovable protecting group (NVOC) are prepared via the SI‐ATRP method. Upon light irradiation, the NVOC group is removed to generate controlled densities of free amine groups (PAMA) randomly distributed along the brush. The presence of the ionizable groups induces a photo‐triggered swelling response. The swelling degree can be tuned by the irradiation dose. A dual (light and pH), tunable response is demonstrated.magnified image
Stromal interaction molecule 2 (STIM2) is frequently overexpressed in colorectal tumors and confers a tumor cell growth suppressor phenotype
Authors: Aytes Alvaro , Molleví David G. , Martinez‐Iniesta Maria , Nadal Marga , Vidal August , Morales Albert , Salazar Ramón , Capellà Gabriel , Villanueva Alberto 
Published: September 2011

AbstractAllelic imbalances at chromosome 4p have been largely documented in many different tumor types. In colorectal cancer, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 4p15 has been associated with tumor aggressiveness and poor patient outcome, however no target genes in the region have been identified to date. Since stromal interaction molecule 2 (STIM2) is located at 4p15.2 and has been proposed as a candidate gene for this region in glioblastoma multiforme, we aimed at investigating the role of STIM2 in colorectal cancer. We studied STIM2 transcript expression levels in a collection of xenografted primary colorectal tumors (n = 20) and a well‐annotated tumor series of colorectal cancer (n = 140). We observed an overexpression of STIM2 in 63.5% of the cases that was associated with a less invasive phenotype. In vitro and in vivo functional studies with colon cancer cell lines revealed that overexpression of STIM2 reduced cell proliferation and tumor growth, respectively. Our work presents several lines of evidence indicating that STIM2 overexpression is a frequent trait in colorectal cancer that results in cell growth suppression, certifying that even in the absence of somatic genetic or epigenetic alterations, recurrent regions of LOH should still be considered a hallmark for the presence of relevant genes for tumorigenesis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Downregulation of tropomyosin‐1 in squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus, the role of Ras signaling and methylation
Authors: Zare Maryam , Jazii Ferdous Rastgar , Soheili Zahra‐Soheila , Moghanibashi Mohamad‐Mehdi 
Published: September 2011

AbstractTropomyosins (TMs) are a family of cytoskeletal proteins that bind to and stabilize actin microfilaments. Non‐muscle cells express multiple isoforms of TMs including three high molecular weight (HMW) isoforms: TM1, TM2, and TM3. While reports have indicated downregulation of TMs in transformed cells and several human cancers, nevertheless, little is known about the underlying mechanism of TMs suppression. In present study the expression of HMW TMs was investigated in squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus (SCCE), relative to primary cell cultures of normal esophagus by western blotting and real‐time RT‐PCR. Our results showed that TM1, TM2, and TM3 were significantly downregulated in cell line of SCCE. Moreover, mRNA level of TPM1 and TPM2 were markedly decreased by 93% and 96%, in tumor cell line relative to esophagus normal epithelial cells. Therefore, downregulation of TMs could play an important role in tumorigenesis of esophageal cancer. To asses the mechanism of TM downregulation in esophageal cancer, the role of Ras dependent signaling and promoter hypermethylation were investigated. We found that inhibition of two Ras effectory downstream pathways; MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt leads to significant increased expression of TM1 protein and both TPM1 and TPM2 mRNAs. In addition, methyltransferase inhibition significantly upregulated TM1, suggesting the prominent contribution of promoter hypermethylation in TM1 downregulation in esophageal cancer. These data indicate that downregulation of HMW TMs occurs basically in SCCE and the activation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt pathways as well as the epigenetic mechanism of promoter hypermethylation play important role in TM1 suppression in SCCE. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Curcumin attenuates diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting PKC‐α and PKC‐β1 activity in streptozotocin‐induced type I diabetic rats
Authors: Soetikno Vivian , Watanabe Kenichi , Sari Flori R. , Harima Meilei , Thandavarayan Rajarajan A. , Veeraveedu Punniyakoti T. , Arozal Wawaimuli , Sukumaran Vijayakumar , Lakshmanan Arun Prasath , Arumugam Somasundaram , Suzuki Kenji 
Published: September 2011

AbstractScope: We hypothesized that curcumin, a potent anti‐oxidant, might be beneficial in ameliorating the development of diabetic nephropathy through inhibition of PKC‐α and PKC‐β1 activity‐ERK1/2 pathway.Methods and results: Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (55 mg/kg) in rats. Three weeks after STZ injection, rats were divided into three groups, namely, normal, diabetic and diabetic treated with curcumin at 100 mg/kg/day, p.o., for 8 wk. At 11 wk after STZ injection, diabetic rats exhibited renal dysfunction, as evidenced by reduced creatinine clearance, increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and proteinuria, marked increases in lipid peroxidation, NOX4 and p67phox and decrease in anti‐oxidant enzyme. All of these abnormalities were significantly reversed by curcumin. Furthermore, the high‐glucose‐induced PKC‐α and PKC‐β1 activities and phosphorylated ERK1/2 was significantly diminished by curcumin. Curcumin also attenuated the expression of TGF‐β1, CTGF, osteopontin, p300 and ECM proteins such as fibronectin and type IV collagen. The high‐glucose‐induced expression of VEGF and its receptor VEGF receptor II (flk‐1) was also ameliorated by curcumin.Conclusion: These results prove that curcumin produces dual blockade of both PKC‐α and PKC‐β1 activities, which suggests that curcumin is a potential adjuvant therapy for the prevention and treatment of diabetic nephropathy.
Conjugated linoleic acid protects against gliadin‐induced depletion of intestinal defenses
Authors: Bergamo Paolo , Gogliettino Marta , Palmieri Gianna , Cocca Ennio , Maurano Francesco , Stefanile Rosita , Balestrieri Marco , Mazzarella Giuseppe , David Chella , Rossi Mauro 
Published: September 2011

AbstractScope: The involvement of oxidative stress in gluten‐induced toxicity has been evidenced in vitro and in clinical studies but has never been examined in vivo. We recently demonstrated the protective activity of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which functions by the activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor2 (Nrf2), a key transcription factor for the synthesis of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes (phase 2). Here, we evaluate the involvement of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor2 in gliadin‐mediated toxicity in human Caco‐2 intestinal cells and in gliadin‐sensitive human leukocyte antigen‐DQ8 transgenic mice (DQ8) and the protective activity of CLA.Methods and results: Gliadin effects in differentiated Caco‐2 cells and in DQ8 mice, fed with a gliadin‐containing diet with or without CLA supplementation, were evaluated by combining enzymatic, immunochemical, immunohistochemical, and quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) assays. Gliadin toxicity was accompanied by downregulation of phase 2 and elevates proteasome‐acylpeptide hydrolase activities in vitro and in vivo. Notably, gliadin was unable to generate severe oxidative stress extent or pathological consequences in DQ8 mice intestine comparable to those found in celiac patients and the alterations produced were hampered by CLA.Conclusion: The beneficial effects of CLA against the depletion of crucial intestinal cytoprotective defenses indicates a novel nutritional approach for the treatment of intestinal disease associated with altered redox homeostasis.
Relationships between the dynamics of iatrogenic DNA damage and genomic design in mammalian spermatozoa from eleven species
Authors: Gosálvez Jaime , López‐Fernández Carmen , Fernández José L. , Gouraud Anne , Holt William V. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThe dynamic onset of DNA fragmentation in mammalian sperm populations varies widely in different species when the spermatozoa are incubated in vitro at body temperature for several hours, and recent studies have shown that the dynamic rate of DNA fragmentation within a species has considerable predictive value in terms of fertility. The reasons for such variation are unclear, but here we show that differences in protamine sequence and identity could be partially responsible. Sets of 10 normal semen samples from 11 species (ram, goat, boar, white‐tailed deer, rabbit, human, domestic and Spanish fighting bull, horse, donkey, rhinoceros, and koala) were cryopreserved, thawed, diluted in an appropriate extender for each species, and then incubated for 4 hr at 37°C. Semen samples from human infertility patients were also included for comparison with the donors. DNA fragmentation analysis was undertaken immediately after thawing (t0) and after 4 hr (t4) using the Halomax/Halosperm procedure, and the differences in DNA fragmentation between t0 and t4 were examined in the context of the respective protamine genomes. The expression of protamine 2 in a species significantly enhanced the likelihood of sperm DNA fragmentation; greater numbers of cysteine residues in protamine 1 tended to confer increased sperm DNA stability, and there were logical evolutionary relationships between species in terms of their sperm DNA stability. Human spermatozoa from infertility patients exhibited considerably higher DNA instability than the normal semen donors, a difference that could be indirectly attributed to unbalanced protamine 1‐to‐protamine 2 ratios. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 78:951–961, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
VERSE‐guided numerical RF pulse design: A fast method for peak RF power control
Authors: Lee Daeho , Grissom William A. , Lustig Michael , Kerr Adam B. , Stang Pascal P. , Pauly John M. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIn parallel excitation, the computational speed of numerical radiofrequency (RF) pulse design methods is critical when subject dependencies and system nonidealities need to be incorporated on‐the‐fly. One important concern with optimization‐based methods is high peak RF power exceeding hardware or safety limits. Hence, online controllability of the peak RF power is essential. Variable‐rate selective excitation pulse reshaping is ideally suited to this problem due to its simplicity and low computational cost. In this work, we first improve the fidelity of variable‐rate selective excitation implementation for discrete‐time waveforms through waveform oversampling such that variable‐rate selective excitation can be robustly applied to numerically designed RF pulses. Then, a variable‐rate selective excitation‐guided numerical RF pulse design is suggested as an online RF pulse design framework, aiming to simultaneously control peak RF power and compensate for off‐resonance. Magn Reson Med 67:353–362, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Exploiting sparsity to accelerate noncontrast MR angiography in the context of parallel imaging
Authors: Storey Pippa , Otazo Ricardo , Lim Ruth P. , Kim Sooah , Fleysher Lazar , Oesingmann Niels , Lee Vivian S. , Sodickson Daniel K. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractNoncontrast techniques for peripheral MR angiography are receiving renewed interest because of safety concerns about the use of gadolinium in patients with renal insufficiency. One class of techniques involves subtraction of dark‐blood images acquired during fast systolic flow from bright‐blood images obtained during slow diastolic flow. The goal of this work was to determine whether the inherent sparsity of the difference images could be exploited to achieve greater acceleration without loss of image quality in the context of generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA). It is shown that noise amplification at high acceleration factors can be reduced by performing subtraction on the raw data, before calculation of the GRAPPA weights, rather than on the final magnitude images. Use of the difference data to calculate the GRAPPA weights decreases the geometry factor (g‐factor), because the difference data represent a sparse image set. This demonstrates an inherent property of GRAPPA and does not require the use of compressed sensing. Application of this approach to highly accelerated data from healthy volunteers resulted in similar depiction of large arteries to that obtained with low acceleration and standard reconstruction. However, visualization of very small vessels and arterial branches was compromised. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Ocular and generalized myasthenia gravis induced by human acetylcholine receptor γ subunit immunization
Authors: Wu Xiaorong , Tuzun Erdem , Li Jing , Xiao Tianlin , Saini Shamsher S. , Qi Huibin , Allman Windy , Christadoss Premkumar 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIntroduction: HLA‐DQ8 transgenic mice develop ocular myasthenia gravis (oMG), which then progresses to generalized MG (gMG) when immunized with the human acetylcholine receptor (H‐AChR) α subunit. Because the fetal AChR γ subunit is expressed in adult extraocular muscles, we anticipated that γ subunit immunization would generate an immune response to mouse AChR and induce MG in mice. Results: H‐AChR γ subunit immunization in HLA‐DQ8 mice induced an autoimmune response to mouse AChR and led to the destruction of AChR in the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) by anti‐AChR antibody and complement activation, and it triggered upregulation of AChR gene transcription. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that oMG may be induced by immunity to the AChR γ subunit. Muscle Nerve, 2012
High‐frequency sonography of the volar digital nerves of the hand
Authors: Kessler James M. , de la Lama Mauricio , Umans Hillary R. , Negron Judith 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIntroduction: The purpose of this study is to describe our technique for high‐frequency sonography of the volar digital nerves and to define the course, caliber, and morphology of normal volar digital nerves. Methods: The volar digital nerves of 10 volunteers were imaged in the long axis using a linear ultrasound transducer. Height, weight, glove size, and hand dominance were recorded. Each radial and ulnar nerve was divided into four segments. Segment thickness and depth were measured. A mixed model analysis for repeated measures was utilized (α = 0.05). Results: The average nerve thickness (NT) was 1.1 mm (± 0.01 SE), and the average nerve depth (ND) was 2.8 mm (± 0.04 SE). Neither NT nor ND demonstrated any significant correlation with height, age, weight, body mass index, or glove size. Nerves ranged in thickness from 0.7 to 1.5 mm and in depth from 0.7 to 6.8 mm. Conclusion: High‐frequency sonography permits high‐resolution imaging of the volar digital nerves. Muscle Nerve, 2012
A Winkler model approach for vertically and laterally loaded piles in nonhomogeneous soil
Authors: Hirai Hiroyoshi 
Published: September 2011

SUMMARYAn investigation is made to present analytical solutions provided by a Winkler model approach for the analysis of single piles and pile groups subjected to vertical and lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soils. The load transfer parameter of a single pile in nonhomogeneous soils is derived from the displacement influence factor obtained from Mindlin's solution for an elastic continuum analysis, without using the conventional form of the load transfer parameter adopting the maximum radius of the influence of the pile proposed by Randolph and Wroth. The modulus of the subgrade reaction along the pile in nonhomogeneous soils is expressed by using the displacement influence factor related to Mindlin's equation for an elastic continuum analysis to combine the elastic continuum approach with the subgrade reaction approach. The relationship between settlement and vertical load for a single pile in nonhomogeneous soils is obtained by using the recurrence equation for each layer. Using the modulus of the subgrade reaction represented by the displacement influence factor related to Mindlin's solution for the lateral load, the relationship between horizontal displacement, rotation, moment, and shear force for a single pile subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soils is available in the form of the recurrence equation. The comparison of the results calculated by the present method for single piles and pile groups in nonhomogeneous soils has shown good agreement with those obtained from the more rigorous finite element and boundary element methods. It is found that the present procedure gives a good prediction on the behavior of piles in nonhomogeneous soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Binary level set method for structural topology optimization with MBO type of projection
Authors: Mohamadian Mojtaba , Shojaee Saeed 
Published: September 2011

SUMMARYIn this paper, we use binary level set method and Merriman–Bence–Osher scheme for solving structural shape and topology optimization problems. In the binary level set method, the level set function can only take 1 and –1 values at convergence. Thus, it is related to phasefield methods. There is no need to solve the Hamilton–Jacobi equation so it is free of the CFL condition and the reinitialization scheme. This favorable property leads to the great time advantage of this method. We use additive operator splitting (AOS) and multiplicative operator splitting (MOS) schemes for solving optimization problems under some constraints In this work, we also combine the binary level set method with the Merriman–Bence–Osher scheme. The combined scheme is much more efficient than the conventional binary level set method. Several two‐dimensional examples are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of proposed method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
hp‐FEM for second moments of elliptic PDEs with stochastic data. I. Analytic regularity
Authors: Pentenrieder Bastian , Schwab Christoph 
Published: September 2011

AbstractFor a linear second order elliptic partial differential operator A : V → V′, we consider the boundary value problems Au = f with stationary Gaussian random data f over the dual V′ of the separable Hilbert space V in which the solution u is sought. The operator A is assumed to be deterministic and bijective. The unique solution u = A−1f is a Gaussian random field over V. It is characterized by its mean field Eu and its covariance Cu ∈ V ⊗ V. For a class of Gaussian data f with piecewise analytic covariance kernels Cf ∈ V′ ⊗ V′, we characterize analytic regularity of the covariance Cu of the Gaussian solution u in families of countably normed, weighted Sobolev spaces. To this end, we investigate shift theorems for the (nonhypoelliptic) deterministic tensor PDEs (A ⊗ A)Cu = Cf proposed by Schwab and Todor, (Numer Math 95 (2003), 707–734) for the computation of covariance Cu of the random solution u. The nonhypoelliptic nature of A ⊗ A implies that sing supp(Cu) is in general strictly larger than sing supp(Cf). For a model problem, analyticity and singular support of the solution is characterized completely. Based on our regularity results, we outline an hp‐finite element strategy (Pentenrieder, Ph.D thesis, ETHZurich, Dissertation No. 18729, 2009; Pentenrieder and Schwab, Research Report 2010‐08, Seminar for Applied Mathematics, ETH Zürich, Submitted) to approximate Cu stemming from covariances of stationary Gaussian data f. In the second part (Pentenrieder and Schwab, Research Report 2010–08, Seminar for Applied Mathematics, ETH Zürich, Submitted) of this work, we prove that this discretization gives exponential rates of convergence of the FE approximations, in terms of the number of degrees of freedom. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2012