bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Alternative mRNA processing increases the complexity of microRNA‐based gene regulation in Arabidopsis
Authors: Yang Xiaozeng , Zhang Huiyong , Li Lei 
Published: January 2012

SummaryMicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent an important class of sequence‐specific, trans‐acting endogenous small RNA molecules that modulate gene expression at the post‐transcriptional level. They function by binding to partial complementary cis‐regulatory sites (miRNA binding sites) in their target mRNAs. Based on two recent observations from plant genome studies, namely that alternative splicing is a common phenomenon and that miRNA regulates a significant proportion of the transcriptome, we hypothesize that there may be a mechanism for gene regulation that involves both processes. In the present study, we performed a systemic search in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana using annotated gene models as well as publically available high‐throughput RNA sequencing data with a total of 570 million reads. Of the 354 high‐confidence miRNA binding sites identified in Arabidopsis, at least 44 (12.4%) were affected by alternative splicing such that mRNA isoforms of the same miRNA target gene differ in the sequences encoding the miRNA binding sites. By simulation, we found that the frequency of alternative splicing at miRNA binding sites is significantly higher than at other regions. Comparative and functional analyses further indicated that the alternative splicing events are important for target gene expression and miRNA action. Together our results show that alternative splicing of miRNA binding sites is a plausible mechanism for attenuating miRNA‐mediated gene regulation.
Functional disruption of the pentatricopeptide protein SLG1 affects mitochondrial RNA editing, plant development, and responses to abiotic stresses in Arabidopsis
Authors: Yuan Hui , Liu Dong 
Published: January 2012

SummaryLand plants contain a large family of genes that encode for pentatricopeptide (PPR) proteins. To date, few of these PPR proteins have been functionally characterized. In this study, we have analyzed an Arabidopsis mutant, slg1, which exhibits slow growth and delayed development. In addition, slg1 shows an enhanced response to ABA and increased tolerance to drought stress. The SLG1 gene encodes a PPR protein that is localized in mitochondria. In the slg1 mutant, RNA editing in a single site of the mitochondrial transcript nad3 is abolished. nad3 is a subunit of complex I of the electron transport chain in mitochondria. As a consequence, the NADH dehydrogenase activity of complex I in slg1 is strongly impaired and production of ATP is reduced. When responding to ABA treatment, slg1 accumulates more H2O2 in its guard cells than the wild type. The slg1 mutant also has an increased expression of genes involved in the alternative respiratory pathway, which may compensate for the disrupted function of complex I and help scavenge the excess accumulation of H2O2. Our functional characterization of the slg1 mutant revealed a putative link between mitochondrial RNA editing and plant responses to abiotic stress.
Organizational structure and processes in pediatric heart transplantation: A survey of practices
Authors: Stendahl Gail , Bobay Kathleen , Berger Stuart , Zangwill Steven 
Published: January 2012

Stendahl G, Bobay K, Berger S, Zangwill S. Organizational structure and processes in pediatric heart transplantation: A survey of practices.Abstract:  Despite emerging literature on pediatric heart transplantation, there continues to be variation in current practices. The degree of variability among heart transplant programs has not been previously characterized. The purpose of this study was to evaluate organizational structure and practices of pediatric heart transplant programs. The UNOS database was queried to identify institutions according to volume. Coordinators from 50 institutions were invited to participate with a 70% response rate. Centers were grouped by volume into four categories. Some institutional practices were dominated by clear volume trends. Ninety‐five percent of larger centers routinely transplant patients with known antibody sensitization and report a broader range and acuity of recipients. Ninety‐four percent report problems with non‐adherence. Sixty‐nine percent of centers routinely require prospective crossmatches. There was dramatic variation in the use of steroids across all centers. Sixty‐five percent of centers transition adolescents to an adult program. Prophylaxis protocols were also highly inconsistent. This survey provided a comprehensive insight into current practices at pediatric heart transplant programs. The results delineated remarkably variable strategies for routine aspects of care. Analysis of divergence along with uniformity across protocols is a valuable exercise and may serve as a stepping‐stone toward ongoing cooperation and clarity for evidence‐based practice protocols.
Identification of Gonadal Tissue in Cryptorchid Stallion can be Improved by Molecular Biological Analysis – A Case Report
Authors: Stumpf G. , Fietz D. , Ezer J. , Litzke L.‐F. , Bergmann M. 
Published: January 2012

SummarySurgically removed testicular tissue in cryptorchid stallions is sometimes difficult to identify because of morphological and histological malformation. Therefore, a sure method to characterise the removed tissue is required. A 2‐year‐oldHaflinger stallion was castrated after diagnosis of cryptorchidism to remove the left intra‐abdomnial testis. Intra‐operative exploration of the abdominal cavity revealed a firm, dysmorphic structure, which could not be identified as testis based on macroscopic anatomy. The removed tissue was Bouin‐fixed and paraffin‐embedded for histological examination. We additionally applied immuno‐histochemistry for smooth muscle actin to identify tubular structures as well as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) to detect the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), indicating the presence of Leydig cells. AhCGtest was conducted after surgery to screen for remaining testicular tissue. Histological examination using haematoxylin and eosin staining revealed signs of tissue calcification, amorph matrix with scattered cells and round structures. The latter could not be definitely identified as tubules. Actin staining revealed a few tubular wall structures.StAR mRNAexpression indicated the presence of Leydig cells in parts of the removed tissue. ThehCGtest after castration showed no increase in testosterone. Histological and molecular biological examination of extirpated tissue in cryptorchid stallions can play an important role in the identification of the malformed testes like structures. The use of molecular biological techniques provides the opportunity to characterise surgically removed abdominal tissue that cannot be clearly diagnosed by routine histological examination.
How Bad is Corruption? Cross‐country Evidence of the Impact of Corruption on Economic Prosperity
Authors: Bentzen Jeanet Sinding 
Published: January 2012

AbstractMost people today would argue that corruption is bad for countries' economic development. Yet, we still lack a reliable empirical estimate of the effect. This study addresses the econometric shortcomings of the literature and provides an estimate of the causal impact of corruption on gross domestic product per capita across countries. Certain dimensions of a country's culture are used as instruments for corruption. These instruments stay strong when the other deep determinants of economic development, geography, and the remaining dimensions of institutions and culture are controlled for. In the process of choosing controls, however, the entire set of variables available in the Quality of Governance online database (QOG) that includes all central variables from the literature on institutions and culture are included. It is found that corruption does exert a significant and negative impact on countries' productivity levels.
Brain Drain, Fiscal Competition, and Public Education Expenditure
Authors: Egger Hartmut , Falkinger Josef , Grossmann Volker 
Published: January 2012

AbstractA two‐country model is developed in this paper to examine the implications of fiscal competition in public education expenditure under international mobility of high‐skilled labor. The authors allow for educational choice, asymmetry of countries with respect to total factor productivity, and tax base effects of migration in source and host country. As the latter may give rise to multiplicity of equilibrium, alternative belief structures of mobile high‐skilled workers are carefully taken into account. The paper also looks at the consequences of bilateral policy coordination. While in line with other studies on tax competition, bilateral coordination can reduce the under‐investment problem in public education spending, it also tends to hinder migration or may even reverse the direction of the migration flow that materializes under non‐cooperative policy setting. As a result of its potentially adverse effects on migration patterns, bilateral coordination may therefore reduce global welfare and bring the world economy further away from the social planner's solution.
Exchange Rate Regimes and Foreign Direct Investment Flows to Developing Countries
Authors: Abbott Andrew , Cushman David O. , De Vita Glauco 
Published: January 2012

AbstractDrawing on recent advances in exchange rate regime classifications, the paper examines empirically the effect of exchange rate regimes on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing countries. Using system generalized methods of moments estimation on a panel of 70 developing countries for the period 1985–2004, we find that developing countries adopting de facto fixed or intermediate regimes significantly outperform those opting for a flexible exchange rate system in attracting FDI flows. No statistically significant differences in the FDI‐inducing properties of fixes, intermediates and floats are found using the International Monetary Fund official classification.
Input Intensity: A Missing Link between Production, Trade Patterns, and Environmental Standards
Authors: Lahiri Bidisha 
Published: January 2012

AbstractTrade and production implications of a change in environmental policy using the 2 × 2 Heckscher–Ohlin framework are identified. For otherwise identical economies a difference of environmental policy standards generates two effects: the “effective‐endowment effect” where the abatement activity uses up some resources of the economy leaving less for the production of the final goods and the “factor‐price effect” where changes in the abatement requirement affects factor prices that in turn affect production. The direction and relative strengths of these two effects determine whether production and trade patterns are consistent with or opposite to the pollution haven expectation.
The Acceleration of the Masculine in Early‐Twentieth‐Century Berlin
Authors: James Prickett David 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTIn early‐twentieth‐century Berlin, agents of speed and industrialisation, such as the railway, contributed to the seemingly unbridled velocity of urban life. Doctors and cultural critics took an ambivalent stance toward the impact of speed and technology on the human body. Critics argued that these factors, in conjunction with sexual excess and prostitution, accelerated the sexual maturation of young men, thereby endangering ‘healthy’ male sexuality. This comparison of Hans Ostwald's socio‐literary study Dunkle Winkel in Berlin (1904) with Georg Buschan's sexual education primer Vom Jüngling zum Mann (1911) queries the extent to which speed shaped the understanding of ‘the masculine’ in pre‐World‐War‐I Germany. The essay thus examines Ostwald's and Buschan's arguments and postulates that speed in the city (Berlin) can be seen as a feminised, sexualised force that determined sex in the city. According to this reading, the homosexual urban dandy resisted the accelerated modernist urban tempo, whereas the heterosexual man and hegemonic, heteronormative masculinity yielded to speed. ‘“Das Verhältnis”’ became a fleeting, momentary alternative to stable marital relationships, which in turn contributed to the general ‘crisis’ of – and in– masculinity in early‐twentieth‐century Berlin.Im Berlin des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts trugen Geschwindigkeit und Industrialisierung (wie z.B. die Eisenbahn) zur scheinbar ungezügelten Beschleunigung des urbanen Alltagslebens bei. Kulturkritiker und Mediziner nahmen eine ambivalente Haltung gegenüber den Auswirkungen von Geschwindigkeit und Technologie auf den menschlichen Körper ein. Kritiker bemängelten, dass diese Elemente – im Zusammenhang mit sexuellen Ausschweifungen und Prostitution – den sexuellen Reifungsprozess des jungen Mannes beschleunigen und somit die ‘gesunde’ männliche Sexualität gefährden würden. Diese vergleichende Analyse von Hans Ostwalds sozio‐literarischer Studie Dunkle Winkel in Berlin (1904) und Georg Buschans ‘Sexualfibel’Vom Jüngling zum Mann (1911) geht der Frage nach, wie Geschwindigkeit das Verständnis ‘des Männlichen’ in der Zeit vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg in Deutschland prägte. Der Beitrag setzt sich mit Ostwalds und Buschans Argumenten auseinander und postuliert, dass die urbane Geschwindigkeit Berlins als feminisierte, sexualisierte Kraft angesehen werden kann, welche die urbane Sexualität bestimmte. Nach dieser Lesart widerstand der homosexuelle dandy der Großstadt dem beschleunigten urbanen Tempo der Moderne, während sich der Heterosexuelle und die hegemoniale, heteronormative Männlichkeit der Geschwindigkeit anpassten. ‘“Das Verhältnis”’ wurde zu einer flüchtigen, augenblicklichen Alternative zur stabilen Ehe, was wiederum zur allgemeinen ‘Krise der Männlichkeit’– und ‘Krise in der Männlichkeit’– im Berlin des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts beisteuerte.
American Cinema and the Construction of Masculinity in Film in the Federal Republic after 1945
Authors: Leal Joanne 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTSince 1945, film in the Federal Republic has maintained an ambivalent relationship to American cinema and its embedded ideologies and nowhere is this more evident than in (West) German film's representations of masculinity. This article focuses on three historical moments when political and social shifts resulted in a problematising of male identities in the Federal Republic: the mid‐1950s, the early 1970s and the late 1990s. Cinema responded to a perceived destabilisation of gender norms by exploring constructions of German masculinity in relation to the ambivalently received models of male identity offered by American cinema. With a detailed analysis of three specific examples – Georg Tressler's Die Halbstarken (1956), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Der amerikanische Soldat (1970) and Fatih Akin's Kurz und schmerzlos (1998) – this article investigates the manner in which German cinema engages with these competing conceptions of masculinity and demonstrates the ways in which divergent understandings of gender identity can impact on representations of national and ethnic identity.Seit 1945 unterhält der bundesrepublikanische Film ein ambivalentes Verhältnis zum amerikanischen Kino und dessen eingebetteten Ideologien. Nirgendwo ist dies so offentsichtlich wie in Darstellungen von Männlichkeit im (west)deutschen Film. Dieser Artikel konzentriert sich auf drei historische Momente, während derer politische und gesellschaftliche Veränderungen in ein Problematisieren männlicher Identitäten in der BRD mündeten: die Mitte der 1950er, die frühen 1970er und die späten 1990er Jahre. Das Kino antwortete auf eine vermeintliche Destabilisierung von Geschlechternormen, indem es Konstruktionen deutscher Männlichkeit in Bezug auf ambivalent wahrgenommene Muster männlicher Identität, die das amerikanische Kino zeigte, erkundete. Anhand detaillierter Analysen von drei konkreten Beispielen – Georg Tresslers Die Halbstarken (1956), Rainer Werner Fassbinders Der amerikanische Soldat (1970) and Fatih Akins Kurz und schmerzlos (1998) – untersucht dieser Artikel wie sich das deutsche Kino mit diesen konkurrierenden Vorstellungen von Männlichkeit auseinandersetzt, und legt dar, wie abweichende Auffassungen von Geschlechteridentität Darstellungen von nationaler und ethnischer Identität beeinflussen können.
Antenatal ultrasound assessment of placental/myometrial involvement in morbidly adherent placenta
Authors: WONG Hong S. , CHEUNG Ying K. , WILLIAMS Edward 
Published: January 2012

Objectives:  To examine the usefulness of sonographic criteria in the assessment of the lateral extent and depth of myometrial involvement in morbidly adherent placenta.
Methods:  From hospital records and a perinatal database, women with morbidly adherent placenta confirmed at delivery and antenatal ultrasound assessment in 2004–2007 were identified. The sonographic appearance at the time of antenatal assessment was compared with the clinical and histological findings at delivery. Following statistical analysis, useful sonographic features in the assessment of myometrial invasion were identified.
Results:  Nine cases, including one case of placenta percreta, eight cases of accreta or increta of which one minor partial, were reviewed. The criteria useful for the assessment of the lateral placental/myometrial involvement were obliteration of retroplacental clear space, increased subplacental vascularity, placental‐tissue interface disruption and vessels crossing the interface disruption site with the last 2 signs applicable for helpful for assessment of the parametrium; and for the assessment of the depth, bladder serosa–uterine wall interface hypervascularity, vessels extending from placenta to bladder, placental‐tissue interface disruption and vessels crossing placental‐tissue interface disruption. The myometrial vascular pattern was also helpful in assessing the extensiveness of myometrial involvement. There was bulging of the lower uterine wall in the case of placenta percreta.
Conclusions:  Assessment of the placental/myometrial involvement of morbidly adherent placenta is possible on antenatal ultrasound examination. Combinations of different criteria may be required in assessing the lateral extent and the depth of placental/myometrial involvement.
Effects of Rosuvastatin on Serum Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Levels and Atrial Structural Remodeling in Atrial Fibrillation Dogs
Authors: LI JINGJIE , XIA WEI , FENG WEI , QU XIUFEN 
Published: January 2012

Background:
Circulating asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, is increased in atrial fibrillation (AF). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of rosuvastatin on serum ADMA levels and atrial structural remodeling in AF dogs induced by chronic rapid atrial pacing.
Methods:
Twenty dogs were randomly divided into the sham‐operated (n = 6), control (n = 7), or rosuvastatin (n = 7) groups. Sustained AF was induced by rapid pacing of the right atrium at 400 beats per minute for 6 weeks. Rosuvastatin was administered orally (1 mg/kg d) for 3 days before rapid pacing and was continued for 6 weeks. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography were performed to detect left atrial structure and function. Serum levels of nitric oxide and ADMA were measured. Interstitial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in the atria were also identified.
Results:
After 6 weeks, compared with the control group, dramatic smaller left atrium and left atrial appendage volumes and higher atrial contractile function were observed in the rosuvastatin group. Serum nitric oxide concentration was increased, whereas ADMA was decreased in the rosuvastatin group compared with the control group. The percentages of interstitial fibrosis and atrial apoptosis in the control group were significantly higher than those in the sham‐operated group, and rosuvastatin attenuated these changes induced by atrial rapid pacing.
Conclusion:
A short course of rosuvastatin treatment decreased apoptosis and prevented atrial structural remodeling in association with a decrease in ADMA levels in AF dogs. PACE 2012; 35:456–464)
Evolution of public attitudes about mental illness: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Schomerus G. , Schwahn C. , Holzinger A. , Corrigan P. W. , Grabe H. J. , Carta M. G. , Angermeyer M. C. 
Published: January 2012

Schomerus G, Schwahn C, Holzinger A, Corrigan PW, Grabe HJ, Carta MG, Angermeyer MC. Evolution of public attitudes about mental illness: a systematic review and meta‐analysis.Objective:  To explore whether the increase in knowledge about the biological correlates of mental disorders over the last decades has translated into improved public understanding of mental illness, increased readiness to seek mental health care and more tolerant attitudes towards mentally ill persons.Method:  A systematic review of all studies on mental illness‐related beliefs and attitudes in the general population published before 31 March 2011, examining the time trends of attitudes with a follow‐up interval of at least 2 years and using national representative population samples. A subsample of methodologically homogeneous studies was further included in a meta‐regression analysis of time trends.Results:  Thirty‐three reports on 16 studies on national time trends met our inclusion criteria, six of which were eligible for a meta‐regression analysis. Two major trends emerged: there was a coherent trend to greater mental health literacy, in particular towards a biological model of mental illness, and greater acceptance of professional help for mental health problems. In contrast, however, no changes or even changes to the worse were observed regarding the attitudes towards people with mental illness.Conclusion:  Increasing public understanding of the biological correlates of mental illness seems not to result in better social acceptance of persons with mental illness.
Self‐assembly of amelogenin proteins at the water–oil interface
Authors: Martinez‐Avila Olga M. , Wu Shenping , Cheng Yifan , Lee Robert , Khan Feroz , Habelitz Stefan 
Published: January 2012

Martinez‐Avila OM, Wu S, Cheng Y, Lee R, Khan F, Habelitz S. Self‐assembly of amelogenin proteins at the water–oil interface.

Eur J Oral Sci 2011; 119 (Suppl. 1): 75–82. © 2011 Eur J Oral SciSelf‐assembly of amelogenin plays a key role in controlling enamel biomineralization. Recently, we generated self‐aligning nanoribbons of amelogenin in water‐in‐oil emulsions stabilized by the full‐length protein (rH174). Here, we tested the hypothesis that the hydrophilic C‐terminus is critical for self‐assembly of amelogenin into nanoribbons. The self‐assembled structures of two amelogenin cleavage products, rH163 and rH146, were compared with structures of rH174 at different pH values and degrees of saturation using atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. We observed that the number density of rH174 nanoribbons increased significantly when the initial pH was raised from 4.5 to 5.6. Nanoribbons, as well as unique helical nanostructures, were also readily observed when amelogenin rH146 was used, but showed little tendency for parallel alignment and did not bundle into fibrils like rH174. In contrast, rH163 rarely formed nanoribbons but predominantly assembled into nanospheres under the same conditions. We conclude that the presence of a hydrophilic C‐terminus may not be a prerequisite for nanoribbon formation but may be critical for ribbon alignment and subsequent fibril formation. These results highlight the contribution of the hydrophobic domain in the self‐assembly of elongated structures of amelogenins. Molecular mechanisms governing these processes based on the formation of reverse micelles are discussed.