bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ectopic expression of cyclase associated protein CAP restores the streaming and aggregation defects of adenylyl cyclase a deficient Dictyostelium discoideumcells
Authors: Sultana Hameeda , Neelakanta Girish , Rivero Francisco , Blau-Wasser Rosemarie , Schleicher Michael , Noegel Angelika A 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Background
Cell adhesion, an integral part of D. discoideum development, is important for morphogenesis and regulated gene expression in the multicellular context and is required to trigger cell-differentiation. G-protein linked adenylyl cyclase pathways are crucially involved and a mutant lacking the aggregation specific adenylyl cyclase ACA does not undergo multicellular development.

Results
Here, we have investigated the role of cyclase-associated protein (CAP), an important regulator of cell polarity and F-actin/G-actin ratio in the aca
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mutant. We show that ectopic expression of GFP-CAP improves cell polarization, streaming and aggregation in aca
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cells, but it fails to completely restore development. Our studies indicate a requirement of CAP in the ACA dependent signal transduction for progression of the development of unicellular amoebae into multicellular structures. The reduced expression of the cell adhesion molecule DdCAD1 together with csA is responsible for the defects in aca
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cells to initiate multicellular development. Early development was restored by the expression of GFP-CAP that enhanced the DdCAD1 transcript levels and to a lesser extent the csA mRNA levels.

Conclusions
Collectively, our data shows a novel role of CAP in regulating cell adhesion mechanisms during development that might be envisioned to unravel the functions of mammalian CAP during animal embryogenesis.
Lipopolysaccharide priming enhances expression of effectors of immune defence while decreasing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in mammary epithelia cells from cows
Authors: Günther Juliane , Petzl Wolfram , Zerbe Holm , Schuberth Hans-Joachim , Koczan Dirk , Goetze Leopold , Seyfert Hans-Martin 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Background
Udder infections with environmental pathogens like Escherichia coli are a serious problem for the dairy industry. Reduction of incidence and severity of mastitis is desirable and mild priming of the immune system either through vaccination or with low doses of immune stimulants such as lipopolysaccharide LPS was previously found to dampen detrimental effects of a subsequent infection. Monocytes/macrophages are known to develop tolerance towards the endotoxin LPS (endotoxin tolerance, ET) as adaptation strategy to prevent exuberant inflammation.
We have recently observed that infusion of 1 μg of LPS into the quarter of an udder effectively protected for several days against an experimentally elicited mastitis. We have modelled this process in primary cultures of mammary epithelial cells (MEC) from the cow. MEC are by far the most abundant cells in the healthy udder coming into contact with invading pathogens and little is known about their role in establishing ET.

Results
We primed primary MEC cultures for 12 h with LPS (100 ng/ml) and stimulated three cultures either 12 h or 42 h later with 107/ml particles of heat inactivated E. coli bacteria for six hours. Priming-related alterations in the global transcriptome of those cells were quantified with Affymetrix microarrays. LPS priming alone caused differential expression of 40 genes and mediated significantly different response to a subsequent E. coli challenge of 226 genes. Expression of 38 genes was enhanced while that of 188 was decreased. Higher expressed were anti-microbial factors (β-defensin LAP, SLPI), cell and tissue protecting factors (DAF, MUC1, TGM1, TGM3) as well as mediators of the sentinel function of MEC (CCL5, CXCL8). Dampened was the expression of potentially harmful pro-inflammatory master cytokines (IL1B, IL6, TNF-α) and immune effectors (NOS2, matrix metalloproteases). Functional network analysis highlighted the reduced expression of IL1B and of IRF7 as key to this modulation.

Conclusion
LPS-primed MEC are fitter to repel pathogens and better protected against misguided attacks of the immune response. Attenuated is the exuberant expression of factors potentially promoting immunopathological processes. MEC therefore recapitulate many aspects of ET known so far from professional immune cells.
Resting heart rate as a predictor of metabolic dysfunctions in obese children and adolescents
Authors: Freitas Júnior Ismael F , Monteiro Paula A , Silveira Loreana S , Cayres Suziane U , Antunes Bárbara M , Bastos Karolynne N , Codogno Jamile S , Sabino João Paulo J , Fernandes Rômulo A 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Background
Recent studies have identified that a higher resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with elevated blood pressure, independent of body fatness, age and ethnicity. However, it is still unclear whether RHR can also be applied as a screening for other risk factors, such as hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. Thus, the purpose of the presented study was to analyze the association between RHR, lipid profile and fasting glucose in obese children and adolescents.

Methods
The sample was composed of 180 obese children and adolescents, aged between 7-16 years. Whole-body and segmental body composition were estimated by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Resting heart rate (RHR) was measured by heart rate monitors. The fasting blood samples were analyzed for serum triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and glucose, using the colorimetric method.

Results
Fasting glucose, TC, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C and RHR were similar in both genders. The group of obese subjects with a higher RHR presented, at a lower age, higher triglycerides and TC. There was a significant relationship between RHR, triglycerides and TC. In the multivariate model, triglycerides and TC maintained a significant relationship with RHR independent of age, gender, general and trunk adiposity. The ROC curve indicated that RHR has a high potential for screening elevated total cholesterol and triglycerides as well as dyslipidemia.

Conclusion
Elevated RHR has the potential to identify subjects at an increased risk of atherosclerosis development.
Intraparenchymal papillary meningioma of brainstem: case report and literature review
Authors: Jiang Xiao-Bing , Ke Chao , Han Zhi-An , Lin Shao-Hua , Mou Yong-Gao , Luo Rong-Zhen , Wu Shao-Xiong , Chen Zhong-Ping 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Both intraparenchymal papillary meningioma and papillary meningioma with cyst formation of brainstem have never been reported. The authors present an extremely rare case of patient with intraparenchymal papillary meningioma of brainstem. A 23-year-old Chinese male presented with a 4-month history of progressive left upper limb and facial nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic-solid, heterogeneously enhancing mass in pons and right cerebral peduncle with no dural attachment. The tumor was totally removed via subtemporal approach. During surgery, the lesion was found to be completely intraparenchymal. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations were compatible with the diagnosis of papillary meningioma. The lesion recurred nine months after primary surgery, a second surgery followed by radiotherapy was performed. Till to now (nearly 2 years after the treatment), the patient is tumor free survival. Intraparenchymal meningioma of brainstem with cystic formation is very rare, however, it should be considered as a differential diagnosis of a brainstem neoplasm. The present case strongly recommended that postoperative radiotherapy was essential for the patients with papillary meningiomas.
The prognostic factors of resected non-small cell lung cancer with chest wall invasion
Authors: Lee Chang Young , Byun Chun Sung , Lee Jin Gu , Kim Dae Joon , Cho Byoung Chul , Chung Kyung Young , Park In Kyu 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Background
We retrospectively reviewed the clinical features and surgical outcomes of patients with a surgically resected NSCLC invading chest wall in order to identify prognostic factors that impact long term survival.

Methods
Between January 1990 and December 2009, 107 patients who underwent surgical resection for chest wall invading NSCLC were reviewed. Tumors invading only the parietal pleura were defined as superficial invasions, and those involving the soft tissue or ribs were defined as deep invasions.

Results
There were 91 men and 16 women; median age was 64 years (range 30 to 80 years). Overall 5 year survival rate was 26.3%. The univariate prognostic factors for survival included gender, extent of resection (pneumonectomy vs lobectomy), tumor size(> 5 cm vs ≤ 5 cm), nodal status (N0 or N1 vs N2), completeness of resection (complete vs incomplete) and completeness of adjuvant chemotherapy. At multivariate analysis, five independent prognostic factors were shown; depth of invasion (superficial vs deep), tumor size, nodal status, completeness of resection, and completeness of adjuvant chemotherapy. In patients with completely resected T3N0 NSCLC, completion of chemotherapy is the only prognostic factor for long term survival.

Conclusions
Completeness of resection, nodal status, depth of invasion, tumor size, and adjuvant chemotherapy were prognostic factors for long-term survival in NSCLC patients with chest wall invasion. Because of poor prognosis in cases with chest wall invasion that have N2 positive LN, that is difficult to achieve complete resection and that need pneumonectomy, definite chemoradiotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy should be considered first in these cases.
Functional hyper-IL-6 from vaccinia virus-colonized tumors triggers platelet formation and helps to alleviate toxicity of mitomycin C enhanced virus therapy
Authors: Sturm Julia B , Hess Michael , Weibel Stephanie , Chen Nanhai G , Yu Yong A , Zhang Qian , Donat Ulrike , Reiss Cora , Gambaryan Stepan , Krohne Georg , Stritzker Jochen , Szalay Aladar A 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackgroundCombination of oncolytic vaccinia virus therapy with conventional chemotherapy has shown promise for tumor therapy. However, side effects of chemotherapy including thrombocytopenia, still remain problematic.MethodsHere, we describe a novel approach to optimize combination therapy of oncolytic virus and chemotherapy utilizing virus-encoding hyper-IL-6, GLV-1h90, to reduce chemotherapy-associated side effects.ResultsWe showed that the hyper-IL-6 cytokine was successfully produced by GLV-1h90 and was functional both in cell culture as well as in tumor-bearing animals, in which the cytokine-producing vaccinia virus strain was well tolerated. When combined with the chemotherapeutic mitomycin C, the anti-tumor effect of the oncolytic virotherapy was significantly enhanced. Moreover, hyper-IL-6 expression greatly reduced the time interval during which the mice suffered from chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.ConclusionTherefore, future clinical application would benefit from careful investigation of additional cytokine treatment to reduce chemotherapy-induced side effects.
Correlation-based radio localization in an indoor environment
Authors: Callaghan Thomas , Czink Nicolai , Mani Francesco , Paulraj Arogyaswami , Papanicolaou George 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
We investigate the feasibility of using correlation-based methods for estimating the spatial location of distributed receiving nodes in an indoor environment. Our algorithms do not assume any knowledge regarding the transmitter locations or the transmitted signal, but do assume that there are ambient signal sources whose location and properties are, however, not known. The motivation for this kind of node localization is to avoid interaction between nodes. It is most useful in non-line-of-sight propagation environments, where there is a lot of scattering. Correlation-based node localization is able to exploit an abundance of bandwidth of ambient signals, as well as the features of the scattering environment. The key idea is to compute pairwise cross correlations of the signals received at the nodes and use them to estimate the travel time between these nodes. By doing this for all pairs of receivers, we can construct an approximate map of their location using multidimensional scaling methods. We test this localization algorithm in a cubicle-style office environment based on both ray-tracing simulations, and measurement data from a radio measurement campaign using the Stanford broadband channel sounder. Contrary to what is seen in other applications of cross-correlation methods, the strongly scattering nature of the indoor environment complicates distance estimation. However, using statistical methods, the rich multipath environment can be turned partially into an advantage by enhancing ambient signal diversity and therefore making distance estimation more robust. The main result is that with our correlation-based statistical estimation procedure applied to the real data, assisted by multidimensional scaling, we were able to compute spatial antenna locations with an average error of about 2 m and pairwise distance estimates with an average error of 1.84 m. The theoretical resolution limit for the distance estimates is 1.25 m.
Impact of proximal cytoplasmic droplets on quality traits and in-vitro embryo production efficiency of cryopreserved bull spermatozoa
Authors: Carreira Janaina T , Mingoti Gisele Z , Rodrigues Lucia H , Silva Carlos , Perri Silvia HV , Koivisto Marion B 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackgroundProximal cytoplasmic droplets (PCDs), a remnant of germ cell cytoplasm, are common non-specific morphological defects in bovine semen. This study evaluated the effect of higher percentages of PCDs on the quality of frozen-thawed bovine semen, embryo production and early embryo development.MethodsThree ejaculates from each of five (group 1: PCD ≤ 1%, control) and eight adultBos indicusbulls (group 2: PCD ≥ 24%) were analysed. Semen samples were examined for: post-thaw motility, vigour of movement, concentration, sperm morphology, slow thermoresistance test (STT), membrane integrity, acrosome status, mitochondrial function using fluorescent probes association (FITC-PSA, PI and JC-1) and sperm chromatin integrity using acridine orange assay. Two bulls from group 2, with 28.5% and 48.5% PCD, respectively, and three bulls from the control group, each with 0% PCD, were selected for IVF(in vitrofertilisation).ResultsSemen analyses revealed a significant correlation (P < 0.01) between increased rates of PCD and sperm quality traits. Nevertheless, no differences were observed in sperm motility and vigour either before or after the STT or in the percentage of intact acrosomes (analysed by differential interference contrast microscopy (DIC) after STT), but membrane integrity, acrosome status (evaluated with FITC-PSA staining method after thawing) and mitochondrial function were reduced, when compared with group 1 (P < 0.05). The higher incidence of PCD was positively correlated to chromatin damage, especially after three hours of incubation at 37°C. IVF showed similar results for bull C2 (group 1, control) and bull P2 (group 2, group with higher PCDs).ConclusionHigher PCD levels influenced spermatozoa quality traits. IVF and embryo development data showed that cleavage, blastocyst formation and blastocyst hatching may have been influenced by the interaction of morphology traits and individual bull effects.
Association of HADHA expression with the risk of breast cancer: targeted subset analysis and meta-analysis of microarray data
Authors: Mamtani Manju , Kulkarni Hemant 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackgroundThe role of n-3 fatty acids in prevention of breast cancer is well recognized, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In view of the growing need for early detection of breast cancer, Graham et al. (2010) studied the microarray gene expression in histologically normal epithelium of subjects with or without breast cancer. We conducted a secondary analysis of this dataset with a focus on the genes (n = 47) involved in fat and lipid metabolism. We used stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyses, volcano plots and false discovery rates for association analyses. We also conducted meta-analyses of other microarray studies using random effects models for three outcomes--risk of breast cancer (380 breast cancer patients and 240 normal subjects), risk of metastasis (430 metastatic compared to 1104 non-metastatic breast cancers) and risk of recurrence (484 recurring versus 890 non-recurring breast cancers).ResultsTheHADHAgene [hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase/3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase/enoyl-CoA hydratase (trifunctional protein), alpha subunit] was significantly under-expressed in breast cancer; more so in those with estrogen receptor-negative status. Our meta-analysis showed an 18.4%-26% reduction inHADHAexpression in breast cancer. Also, there was an inconclusive but consistent under-expression ofHADHAin subjects with metastatic and recurring breast cancers.ConclusionsInvolvement of mitochondria and the mitochondrial trifunctional protein (encoded byHADHAgene) in breast carcinogenesis is known. Our results lend additional support to the possibility of this involvement. Further, our results suggest that targeted subset analysis of large genome-based datasets can provide interesting association signals.
Biorefinery process for protein extraction from oriental mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) using ethanol stillage
Authors: Ratanapariyanuch Kornsulee , Tyler Robert T , Shim Youn Young , Reaney Martin JT 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Large volumes of treated process water are required for protein extraction. Evaporation of this water contributes greatly to the energy consumed in enriching protein products. Thin stillage remaining from ethanol production is available in large volumes and may be suitable for extracting protein rich materials. In this work protein was extracted from ground defatted oriental mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) meal using thin stillage. Protein extraction efficiency was studied at pHs between 7.6 and 10.4 and salt concentrations between 3.4 × 10-2 and 1.2 M. The optimum extraction efficiency was pH 10.0 and 1.0 M NaCl. Napin and cruciferin were the most prevalent proteins in the isolate. The isolate exhibited high in vitro digestibility (74.9 ± 0.80%) and lysine content (5.2 ± 0.2 g/100 g of protein). No differences in the efficiency of extraction, SDS-PAGE profile, digestibility, lysine availability, or amino acid composition were observed between protein extracted with thin stillage and that extracted with NaCl solution. The use of thin stillage, in lieu of water, for protein extraction would decrease the energy requirements and waste disposal costs of the protein isolation and biofuel production processes.
Time-varying motor control of autotomized leopard gecko tails: multiple inputs and behavioral modulation
Authors: Higham Timothy E. , Russell Anthony P. 
Published: January 2012

SUMMARY
Autotomy (voluntary loss of an appendage) is common among diverse groups of vertebrates and invertebrates, and much attention has been given to ecological and developmental aspects of tail autotomy in lizards. Although most studies have focused on the ramifications for the lizard (behavior, biomechanics, energetics, etc.), the tail itself can exhibit interesting behaviors once segregated from the body. For example, recent work highlighted the ability of leopard gecko tails to jump and flip, in addition to being able to swing back and forth. Little is known, however, about the control mechanisms underlying these movements. Using electromyography, we examined the time-varying in vivo motor patterns at four sites (two proximal and two distal) in the tail of the leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius, following autotomy. Using these data we tested the hypothesis that the disparity in movements results simply from overlapping pattern generators within the tail. We found that burst duration, but not cycle duration, of the rhythmic swings reached a plateau at approximately 150 s following autotomy. This is likely because of physiological changes related to muscle fatigue and ischemia. For flips and jumps, burst and cycle duration exhibited no regular pattern. The coefficient of variation in motor patterns was significantly greater for jumps and flips than for rhythmic swings. This supports the conclusion that the different tail behaviors do not stem from overlapping pattern generators, but that they rely upon independent neural circuits. The signal controlling jumps and flips may be modified by sensory information from the environment. Finally, we found that jumps and flips are initiated using relatively synchronous activity between the two sides of the tail. In contrast, alternating activation of the right and left sides of the tail result in rhythmic swings. The mechanism underlying this change in tail behavior is comparable to locomotor gait changes in vertebrates.
Seeing near and seeing far; behavioural evidence for dual mechanisms of pattern vision in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Authors: Dyer Adrian G. , Griffiths David W. 
Published: January 2012

SUMMARYVisual perception is a primary modality for interacting with complex environments. Recent work has shown that the brain and visual system of the honeybee is able, in some cases, to learn complex spatial relationships, while in other cases, bee vision is relatively rudimentary and based upon simple elemental-type visual processing. In the present study, we test the ability of honeybees to learn 4-bar asymmetric patterns in a Y-maze with aversive–appetitive differential conditioning. In Experiment 1, a group of bees were trained at a small visual angle of 50 deg by constraining individuals to the decision chamber within the Y-maze. Bees learned this task, and were able to solve the task even in the presence of background noise. However, these bees failed to solve the task when the stimuli were presented at a novel visual angle of 100 deg. In Experiment 2, a separate group of bees were trained to sets of 4-bar asymmetric patterns that excluded retinotopic matching and, in this case, bees learned the configural rule describing stimuli at a visual angle of approximately 50 deg, and this allowed the bees to solve the task when the stimuli were presented at a novel vision angle of 100 deg. This shows that the bee brain contains multiple mechanisms for pattern recognition, and what a bee sees is very dependent upon the specific experience that it receives. These multiple mechanisms would allow bees to interact with complex environments to solve tasks like recognising landmarks at variable distances or quickly discriminating between rewarding/non-rewarding flowers at reasonable constant visual angles.