bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gene polymorphisms of CETP and apolipoprotein E in elderly subjects with cognitive impairment
Authors: Niculescu Loredan , Toma Laura , Ianas Olga , Sima Anca 
Published: April 2012

Abstract
The association of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene polymorphisms with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is under debate. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between APOE and CETP genotypes with healthy ageing. We analysed 267 elderly subjects (55 to 80+ years), 163 with MCI and 104 healthy, and 50 healthy control subjects (35 to 55 years) from a Romanian population. Biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones were assayed in plasma. APOE and CETP TaqIB gene polymorphisms were determined. Elderly subjects had higher frequency of ɛ3/ɛ2 genotype (14.6% vs. 4%, P<0.001) than controls. Elderly subjects with MCI had lower high density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol (P=0.031), apoA-I (P=0.018), T3 (P=0.002), T4 (P=0.028) and TSH (P=0.001) hormone levels, higher systolic blood pressure (P=0.005), lower frequency of CETP B2 allele than the age-matched subjects. Healthy elderly subjects had CETP B2 allele associated with higher plasma apoA-I (P=0.021), lower circulating collagen (P=0.001) levels, and an increased frequency of the combined APOE ɛ2- CETP B2 genotype (18.3%) relative to MCI elderly subjects (7.6%, P=0.011). Healthy elderly subjects are characterized by higher HDL cholesterol, apoA-I levels and higher frequency of the combined APOE ɛ2 and CETP B2 alleles, indicating this pattern as representative for healthy ageing.
Effect of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Volumetric Bone Mineral Density and Bone Geometry, Assessed by Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography in Postmenopausal Women Treated with Bisphosphonates
Authors: TOURNIS SYMEON , SAMDANIS VASILIOS , PSARELIS SAVAS , LIAKOU CHRYSA , ANTONIOU JULIA , GEORGOULAS THOMAS , DONTAS ISMINI , PAPAIOANNOU NIKOLAOS , GAZI SUSAN , LYRITIS GEORGE P. 
Published: April 2012

Objective.To investigate the effect of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and bone geometry in postmenopausal women treated with bisphosphonates.Methods.Fifty-three postmenopausal women with RA and 87 control subjects, comparable in terms of age, body mass index, and years since menopause, underwent peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) of the nondominant tibia.Results.At 4% (trabecular site), trabecular bone mineral content (BMC) and vBMD (p < 0.001) were lower in the RA group, while trabecular area was comparable. At 38% (cortical site), cortical BMC (p < 0.01), area (p < 0.05), and thickness (p < 0.001) were lower in the RA group, whereas vBMD was comparable. Endosteal circumference was higher (p < 0.05), whereas periosteal circumference was comparable, indicating cancellization of cortical bone. In the RA group, muscle area was lower (p < 0.001), while at 14% polar stress strength index was significantly lower (p < 0.01) in patients with RA, indicating impairment of bone mechanical properties.Conclusion.RA is associated with negative effects on both cortical and cancellous bone in postmenopausal women treated with bisphosphonates. Cortical geometric properties are also adversely affected mainly by increased endosteal circumference, whereas trabecular geometric properties are generally preserved.
Increased Incidence and Impact of Upper and Lower Gastrointestinal Events in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Olmsted County, Minnesota: A Longitudinal Population-based Study
Authors: MYASOEDOVA ELENA , MATTESON ERIC L. , TALLEY NICHOLAS J. , CROWSON CYNTHIA S. 
Published: April 2012

Objective.To assess the incidence and mortality impact of upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) events in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to non-RA subjects.Methods.We identified incident upper and lower GI events and estimated their incidence rates using person-year methods in a population-based incident RA cohort of residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA (1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria first fulfilled between January 1, 1980, and January 1, 2008) and non-RA subjects from the same population.Results.The study included 813 patients with RA and 813 non-RA subjects (mean followup 10.3 and 10.8 yrs, respectively); 68% women; mean age 55.9 yrs in both cohorts. The rate of upper GI events/100 person-years was 2.9 in RA versus 1.7 in the non-RA cohort (rate ratio 1.7, 95% CI 1.4, 2.2); for lower GI events, the rates were 2.1 in RA versus 1.4 in the non-RA cohort (rate ratio 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 1.9). The incidence of upper GI bleed, perforation, ulcer, obstruction, and any upper GI event in RA declined over calendar time; the incidence of lower GI events remained unchanged. Exposure to glucocorticoids, prior upper GI disease, abdominal surgery, and smoking were associated with lower GI events in RA. Both upper and lower GI events were associated with increased mortality risk in RA.Conclusion.There is increased risk of serious upper and lower GI events in RA compared to non-RA subjects, and increased GI-related mortality in RA. Prominent declines in incidence of upper, but not lower GI events in RA highlight the need for studies investigating lower GI disease in patients with RA.
Cyril Simard, l’homme qui n’a jamais oublié ses origines
Authors: Simard Jean 
Published: April 2012

Cyril Simard naît à Baie-Saint-Paul, au Québec, en 1938. Il retient de sa formation première l’influence déterminante de ses parents et de ses premiers maîtres : son père qui l’initie au commerce ; sa mère, à l’artisanat ; le frère Ernest Veilleux, à la musique ; le peintre René Richard, au dessin ; Mgr Félix-Antoine Savard, au musée et à l’écriture. Dans les années 1960, il devient architecte et se spécialise en artisanat et design. La carrière de Cyril Simard se partage en plusieurs volets : enseignement universitaire et pratique de l’architecture, direction de la Centrale d’artisanat, diffusion des connaissances par la télévision et le livre, conception et développement de projets au sein de la fonction publique québécoise, création du concept et du réseau des économusées. Il donne une longue entrevue dont nous reproduisons ici d’importants extraits qui forment une sorte de courtepointe en douze morceaux.
Auto-métamorphoses
Authors: Bouratsis Sofia Eliza 
Published: April 2012

Les questions fondamentales liées à la connaissance de la nature du vivant, aux limites scientifiques et éthiques des possibilités du corps humain, mais aussi aux frontières qui séparent les êtres vivants et les machines, l’humain et l’animal, sont aujourd’hui au centre d’importants débats transdisciplinaires.
à partir des oeuvres d’art qui utilisent les méthodes biotechnologiques comme moyens et champs de questionnement, sont questionnées les potentialités insoupçonnées du vivant liées à ces avancées en mettant en évidence les esthétiques du méta-corps « recréé » et « reconstruit » de l’homme bionique.
Je présente cinq catégories « idéals-typiques » des esthétiques dubioart qui permettent de situer ces fictions artistiques dans le contexte de la réalité biotechnologique actuelle. Ces cinq « tableaux de pensée » ne sont évidemment pas hermétiques : corps translucide, prothèses du corps (symbiose de l’homme et de la machine), hybridités transspécifiques (rencontre avec l’absolument Autre), cultures du « semi-vivant » (nouvelles peaux et « bio-facts ») et désir d’ubiquité.
La connaissance scientifique aux frontières du bio-art : le vivant à l’ère du post-naturel
Authors: Abergel Élisabeth 
Published: April 2012

C’est en situant le concept du vivant tel qu’appréhendé par les technosciences et la nouvelle bio-économie, que le texte tente d’articuler la place du bio-art dans la production de la connaissance scientifique. La notion d’objet-frontière est utilisée afin de comprendre le dialogue qui peut s’établir entre deux mondes hétérogènes autour du statut du vivant. D’un côté, le monde de l’art qui met en scène le vivant dans ses oeuvres en le manipulant de manière créative et qui s’immisce dans la pratique scientifique et biogénétique à des fins « est-éthiques » et politiques, et qui tente d’interroger l’avenir de l’humain en explorant les possibilités du vivant. De l’autre côté, le monde scientifique qui tente de s’approprier le vivant en le redéfinissant dans le contexte de la bio-économie dans une logique endogène de production des savoirs. L’article explore les façons dont l’univers du bio-art, en intervenant dans le vivant, peut ouvrir de nouveaux espaces de réflexion sur le statut du vivant dans un monde post-naturel.
La poétique baroquisante de Marie-Claire Blais
Authors: Kyloušek Petr 
Published: April 2012

En comparant les romans des années 1960 et ceux de la dernière période, l’article se propose de dégager quelques éléments de la poétique baroquisante de Marie-Claire Blais. L’analyse tente de cerner certains mécanismes générateurs de tensions, qu’il s’agisse de la relation entre l’écriture et la réalité, des discordances sémantiques, grammaticales ou narratives, de l’imaginaire à la fois antinomique et fusionnel, de la fragmentation contredite par la vision totalisante de l’harmonia mundi. La dynamique de l’affirmation/négation qui semble constitutive du « geste sémantique » de la romancière s’inscrit dans les tendances baroquisantes de la littérature québécoise.
Narration et traitement des personnages
Authors: Roy Nathalie 
Published: April 2012

Il est commun de noter, dans l’oeuvre romanesque plus tardive de Marie-Claire Blais, l’absence d’une voix narrative distincte de celle de ses personnages. Toutefois, en limitant la médiation narrative à un rôle d’orchestration de ses monologues intérieurs, la critique tend à évacuer l’ambiguïté de cette paradoxale « transparence intérieure ». Cet article se propose d’analyser les stratégies narratives du cycle Soifs en partant du principe que l’écriture est d’« essence philosophique ». Il s’agit, plus particulièrement, de montrer en quoi ces stratégies mènent à un traitement des personnages qui jette constamment le doute sur le statut des voix et le lieu d’où elles parlent. L’auteure dégage ensuite quelques pistes de réflexion sur le caractère spéculatif de l’écriture, en posant l’hypothèse que l’usage de formes narratives et de stratégies d’écriture propres à la Modernité trouve chez Blais une portée épistémologique inattendue.
Searching Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) for Information on Genetic Loci Involved in Human Disease
Authors: Baxevanis Andreas D. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractOnline Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a comprehensive compendium of information on human genes and genetic disorders, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between observed phenotypes and underlying genotypes. This unit focuses on the basic methodology for formulating OMIM searches and illustrates the types of information that can be retrieved from OMIM, including descriptions of clinical manifestations resulting from genetic abnormalities. This unit also provides information on additional relevant medical and molecular biology databases. A basic knowledge of OMIM should be part of the armamentarium of physicians and scientists with an interest in research on the clinical aspects of genetic disorders. Curr. Protoc. Hum. Genet. 73:9.13.1‐9.13.10. © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The weak relationship between anatomy competence and clinical skills in junior medical students
Authors: Schoeman Scarpa , Chandratilake Madawa 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIn modern curricula, the early integration of anatomy and clinical skills education at undergraduate level is seen as important. However, the direct relationship between medical students' competence in anatomy, and their clinical proficiency during early undergraduate years, has scarcely been studied. In this study, the marks for anatomy and clinical skills of three consecutive cohorts of medical students (n = 538 in total) during their first two years were correlated. The anatomy competence was measured using a new marker, the Anatomy Competence Score (ACS) which was calculated with equal contributions from theory knowledge and its practical and clinical application. Proficiency in clinical skills was determined by OSCE performance marks for stations which examined physical examination and practical procedural skills. The possible compounding effect of students' general academic ability was investigated by using the overall performance mark for each student based on their performance in all subjects over the first two years of the medical curriculum. We found that the correlation between anatomy and clinical skills marks was weak to moderate. However, this correlation was virtually nullified once the effect of academic ability was accounted for. Although these findings suggest that anatomy education does not compliment early clinical education, the lack of complexity of clinical problems used in clinical skills assessments (OSCEs) during the early stages may well be the primary contributing factor to this finding. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.
A 1D → 3D Two‐Fold Interpenetration Array Formed by Hydrogen‐Bonding Interactions
Authors: Ma De‐Yun , Guo Hai‐Fu , Lu Kuan , Pan Yong , Qin Liang , Blatov Vladislav A. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe self‐assembly of 4′‐hydroxy‐biphenyl‐4‐carboxylic acid (H2hbc), 4, 4′‐bipyridine (4, 4′‐bpy) with a cobalt salt under hydrothermal conditions yielded a novel dinuclear cobalt(II) coordination polymer, {[Co(Hhbc)2(4, 4′‐bpy)]·H2O}n (1), where the coordinating polymeric chains are connected together through hydrogen bonding into a 3D framework of the primitive cubic (pcu) topology. Two pcu frameworks are interweaved into a 3D twofold Class Ia interpenetrating array.
Rosneft's offshore partnerships: the re-opening of the Russian petroleum frontier?
Authors: Overland Indra , Godzimirski Jakub , Lunden Lars Petter , Fjaertoft Daniel 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTDuring an intense period of only 14 months, from June 2010 to August 2011, six major cooperation agreements between oil companies were announced in Russia. Almost all of these partnerships involved offshore projects, with an international oil company as one of the partners and Rosneft as the other. The agreements were concentrated along Russia's Arctic petroleum frontier, and the three that survived the longest involved oil or gas extraction in the Arctic. This article analyses and compares the contents and contexts of the agreements, to ascertain what they have to tell about access for international companies to Russia's offshore petroleum resources and the influence of competing Russian political actors over the country's petroleum sector. The article argues that the new partnerships did represent an intention to open up the Russian continental shelf, and that the agreements were driven and shaped by a series of needs: to secure foreign capital and competence, to reduce exploration risk, to lobby for a better tax framework, to show the government that necessary action was being taken to launch exploration activities, to improve Rosneft's image abroad, and either to avert or prepare for future privatisation of state companies such as Rosneft.
Nutritional quality of children's school lunches: differences according to food source
Authors: Taylor Jennifer P , Hernandez Kimberley J , Caiger Jane Mary , Giberson Donna , MacLellan Debbie , Sweeney-Nixon Marva , Veugelers Paul 
Published: April 2012

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the nutritional quality of lunchtime food consumption among elementary-school children on Prince Edward Island according to the source of food consumed (homev. school).DesignStudents completed a lunchtime food record during an in-class survey. Dietary adequacy was assessed by comparing median micronutrient intakes with one-third of the Estimated Average Requirement; median macronutrient intakes were compared with the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess differences in nutrient intakes according to source of food consumed.SettingElementary schools in Prince Edward Island, Canada.SubjectsGrade 5 and 6 students (n1980).ResultsFoods purchased at school were higher in nutrient density for ten micronutrients (Ca, Mg, K, Zn, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6and vitamin B12) compared with packed lunch foods from home, which were higher in three micronutrients (Fe, vitamin C and folate). School lunches provided sufficient protein but were higher in sugar and fat than home lunches. Foods brought from home were higher in carbohydrates, fibre and Na than foods purchased at school.ConclusionsThe overall nutritional quality of lunches was poor, regardless of source. A significant proportion of foods consumed by the students came from home sources; these were lower nutritional quality and were higher in Na than foods offered at school. Findings suggest that improving the dietary habits of school-aged children will require a collaborative effort from multiple stakeholders, including parents.
On‐shelf transport of slope water lenses within the seasonal pycnocline
Authors: Hopkins J. , Sharples J. , Huthnance J. M. 
Published: April 2012

We show that discrete lenses of anomalously high‐salinity water, originating from the shelf edge and trapped within the seasonal pycnocline, are advected 100 km or more onto the Celtic Sea continental shelf. We propose that the lenses are created by increased diapycnal mixing at the shelf edge associated with breaking high‐frequency internal wave packets. Quasi‐synoptic hydrography sections show the lenses to be 3–5 km wide, their temporal persistence confirmed by moored instrumentation and a series of CTD casts. Estimates of the propagation speed of these features (∼0.020 m s−1) compare favorably with the magnitude of observed residual currents. Residual current variability within the pycnocline is dominated by vertical structures most consistent with the second baroclinic mode. The residual flow is therefore thought to be predominantly driven by non‐linear second mode internal tidal waves. These are observations of a shelf edge exchange process not previously identified.
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Authors: DE CANDOLLE AUGUSTIN PYRAMUS 
Published: April 2012

Abstracttitle RIASSUNTO /title L'inventario del carteggio di Giorgio Santi conservato nella Biblioteca Comunale di Siena rivela i numerosi contatti di questo chimico, botanico e naturalista toscano, fra il 1776 e il 1822. Formatosi in Francia a stretto contatto con le nuove teorie di Buffon e Lavoisier, professore all'Universit di Pisa e direttore del Giardino Botanico dal 1782, Santi costituisce una delle personalit scientifiche di maggiore interesse fra diciottesimo e diciannovesimo secolo, esponente di punta di quel gruppo toscano impegnato nella realizzazione del vasto progetto del Granduca Pietro Leopoldo prima e della nuova amministrazione francese in seguito.
INVENTARIO DEL CARTEGGIO SCIENTIFICO INVIATO ALLO SCOLOPIO ALESSANDRO SERPIERI
Authors: VETRANO FLAVIO , MANTOVANI ROBERTO 
Published: April 2012

Abstracttitle SUMMARY /title Alessandro Serpieri (1823-1885) may be considered as a typical member of nineteenth-century italian scientists; although these scientists have not been much studied until now, however they were fundamental in order to promote the acquisition of technological knowledges for the following industrial evolution in Italy. A. Serpieri applied to astronomy, theoretical and experimental physics, metheorology and seismology furnishing interesting and original results in all these fields. We present here the list of his (known) scientific correspondents, following both chronological and analytical order; at last we list a group of letters from A. Serpieri to F. Cecchi.
Chemokine CXCL12 activates dual CXCR4 and CXCR7-mediated signaling pathways in pancreatic cancer cells
Authors: Heinrich Eileen L , Lee Wendy , Lu Jianming , Lowy Andrew M , Kim Joseph 
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Background
Previously assumed to be a select ligand for chemokine receptor CXCR4, chemokine CXCL12 is now known to activate both CXCR4 and CXCR7. However, very little is known about the co-expression of these receptors in cancer cells.

Methods
We used immunohistochemistry to determine the extent of co-expression in pancreatic cancer tissue samples and immunoblotting to verify expression in pancreatic cancer cell lines. In cell culture studies, siRNA was used to knock down expression of CXCR4, CXCR7, K-Ras and β-arrestin -2 prior to stimulating the cells with CXCL12. Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK) was assessed using both a Raf-pull down assay and western blotting. The involvement of the receptors in CXCL12-mediated increases in cell proliferation was examined via an ATP-based proliferation assay.

Results
First, we discovered frequent CXCR4/CXCR7 co-expression in human pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. Next, we observed consistent increases in ERK1/2 phosphorylation after exposure to CXCL12 or CXCL11, a CXCR7 agonist, in pancreatic cancer cell lines co-expressing CXCR4/CXCR7. To better characterize the receptor-mediated pathway(s), we knocked down CXCR4 or CXCR7, exposed the cells to CXCL12 and examined subsequent effects on ERK1/2. We observed that CXCR7 mediates the CXCL12-driven increase in ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Knockdown of CXCR4 expression however, decreased levels of K-Ras activity. Conversely, KRAS knockdown greatly reduced CXCL12-mediated increases in ERK1/2 phosphorylation. We then evaluated the role of β-arrestin-2, a protein directly recruited by chemokine receptors. We observed that β-arrestin-2 knockdown also inhibited increases in ERK1/2 phosphorylation mediated by both CXCR4 and CXCR7. Finally, we investigated the mechanism for CXCL12-enhanced cell proliferation and found that either receptor can modulate cell proliferation.

Conclusions
In summary, our data demonstrate that CXCR4 and CXCR7 are frequently co-expressed in human pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. We show that β-arrestin-2 and K-Ras dependent pathways coordinate the transduction of CXCL12 signals. Our results suggest that the development of therapies based on inhibiting CXCL12 signaling to halt the growth of pancreatic cancer should be focused at the ligand level in order to account for the contributions of both receptors to this signaling pathway.
Mitochondrial and morphological variation of Tilapia zillii in Israel
Authors: Szitenberg Amir , Goren Menachem , Huchon Dorothée 
Published: April 2012

AbstractBackgroundTilapia zilliiis widespread in the East Levant inland aquatic systems as well as in artificial water reservoirs. In this study we explore the genetic and morphological variation of this widespread species, using mitochondrial control region sequences and meristic characters. We examine the hypothesis thatT. zillii's population structure corresponds to the four Israeli aquatic systems.ResultsOut of seven natural water bodies, only two were found to possess genetically divergent populations ofT. zillii. In addition to its presence in fish farms, the species was found in two artificial recreational ponds which were supposed to have been stocked only with other fish species. In these two artificial habitats, the haplotype frequencies diverged significantly from those of natural populations. Finally, fish from the Dead Sea springs of Ne'ot HaKikar appear to differ both genetically and morphologically from fish of the same aquatic system but not from fish of other water systems.ConclusionsOur results show that the population structure ofT. zilliidoes not match the geography of the Israeli water-basins, with the exception of the Dead Sea and Kishon River, when considering natural populations only. The absence of a significant divergence between basins is discussed. Our results and observations suggest that the Ne'ot HaKikar Dead Sea population and those of artificial ponds could have originated from the "hitchhiking" ofT. zillii, at the expense of some other cultivated tilapiine species.