bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effect of tributyltin on human eosinophylic leukemia EoL-1 cells
Authors: Sroka Jolanta , Włosiak Przemysław , Wilk Anna , Antonik Justyna , Czyż Jarosław , Madeja Zbigniew 
Published: October 2007

AbstractOrganotin compounds are chemicals that are widely used in industry and agriculture as plastic stabilizers, catalysts and biocides. Many of them, including tributyltin (TBT), have been detected in human food and, as a consequence, detectable levels have been found in human blood. As organotin compounds were shown to possess immunotoxic activity, we focused our attention on the effect of TBT on the basic determinants of the function of eosinophils, i.e. cell adhesiveness and motility. We used human eosinophylic leukemia EoL-1 cells, a common in vitro cellular model of human eosinophils. Here, we demonstrate that TBT causes a dose-dependent decrease in the viability of EoL-1 cells. When administered at sub-lethal concentrations, TBT significantly decreases the adhesion of EoL-1 cells to human fibroblasts (HSFs) and inhibits their migration on fibroblast surfaces. Since the basic function of eosinophils is to invade inflamed tissues, our results indicate that TBT, and possibly other organotin compounds, may affect major cellular properties involved in the determination of in vivo eosinophil function.
The transcription reinitiation properties of RNA polymerase III in the absence of transcription factors
Authors: Ferrari Roberto , Dieci Giorgio 
Published: October 2007

AbstractTranscription reinitiation by RNA polymerase (Pol) III proceeds through facilitated recycling, a process by which the terminating Pol III, assisted by the transcription factors TFIIIB and TFIIIC, rapidly reloads onto the same transcription unit. To get further insight into the Pol III transcription mechanism, we analyzed the kinetics of transcription initiation and reinitiation of a simplified in vitro transcription system consisting only of Pol III and template DNA. The data indicates that, in the absence of transcription factors, first-round transcription initiation by Pol III proceeds at a normal rate, while facilitated reinitiation during subsequent cycles is compromised.
Syntaxin 8 has two functionally distinct di-leucine-based motifs
Authors: Kasai Kazuo , Suga Kei , Izumi Tetsuro , Akagawa Kimio 
Published: October 2007

AbstractSyntaxin 8 has been shown to form the SNARE complex with syntaxin 7, vti1b and endobrevin. These have been shown to function as the machinery for the homotypic fusion of late endosomes. Recently, we showed that syntaxins 7 and 8 cycle through the plasma membrane, and that the di-leucine-based motifs in the cytoplasmic domain of syntaxins 7 and 8 respectively function in their endocytic and exocytic processes. However, we could not elucidate the mechanism by which syntaxin 8 cycles through the plasma membrane. In this study, we constructed several different syntaxin 8 molecules by mutating putative di-leucine-based motifs, and analyzed their intracellular localization and trafficking. We found a di-leucine-based motif in the cytoplasmic domain of syntaxin 8. It is similar to that of syntaxin 7, and functions in its endocytosis. These results suggest that in the cytoplasmic domain, syntaxin 8 has two functionally distinct di-leucine-based motifs that act independently in its endocytic and exocytic processes. This is the first report on two di-leucine-based motifs in the same molecule acting independently in distinct transport pathways.
Accumulation of aquaporin-1 during hemolysininduced necrotic cell death
Authors: Schweitzer Kelly , Li Erran , Sidhaye Venkataramana , Leitch Virginia , Kuznetsov Sergey , King Landon 
Published: October 2007

AbstractAltered tissue water homeostasis may contribute to edema formation during various stresses including bacterial infection. We observed induction of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) during Staphylococcus aureus infection of cultured cells indicating a potential mechanism underlying altered water homeostasis during infection. To investigate mechanisms of AQP1 induction, we examined the effects of the S. aureus α-hemolysin on AQP1 abundance in Balb/c fibroblasts. Fibroblasts incubated with 30 μg/ml hemolysin exhibited a 5–10 fold increase in AQP1 protein within 4-6 hours of exposure. The use of multiple signaling cascade inhibitors failed to affect hemolysin-mediated accumulation of AQP1. However, immunoprecipitation revealed an initial accumulation of ubiquitinated AQP1 followed by a decrease to baseline levels after 4 hours. Immunofluorescence indicated that following hemolysin exposure, AQP1 was no longer on the plasma membrane, but was found in a population of submembrane vacuoles. AQP1 redistribution was further indicated by surface biotinylation experiments suggesting diminished AQP1 abundance on the plasma membrane as well as redistribution out of lipid raft fractions. Live cell confocal microscopy revealed that the pattern of cell volume change observed following hemolysin exposure was altered in cells in which AQP1 was silenced. We conclude that alpha-toxin alters proteasomal processing and leads to intracellular accumulation of AQP1, which may likely contribute to disrupted cell volume homeostasis in infection.
Principles of VCSEL designing
Authors: Nakwaski W. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractComprehensive computer simulations are currently the most efficient and cheap methods in designing and optimisation of semiconductor device structures. Seemingly they should be as exact as possible, but in practice it is well known that the most exact approaches are also the most involved and the most time-consuming ones and need powerful computers. In some cases, cheaper somewhat simplified modelling simulations are sufficiently accurate. Therefore, an appropriate modelling approach should be chosen taking into account a compromise between our needs and our possibilities.Modelling of operation and designing of structures of vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers (VCSELs) requires appropriate mathematical description of physical processes crucial for devices operation, i.e., various optical, electrical, thermal, recombination and sometimes also mechanical phenomena taking place within their volumes. Equally important are mutual interactions between above individual processes, usually strongly non-linear and creating a real network of various inter-relations.Chain is as strong as its weakest link. Analogously, model is as exact as its less exact part. Therefore it is useless to improve exactness of its more accurate parts and not to care about less exact ones. All model parts should exhibit similar accuracy. In any individual case, a reasonable compromise should be reached between high modelling fidelity and its practical convenience depending on a main modelling goal, importance and urgency of expected results, available equipment and also financial possibilities. In the present paper, some simplifications used in VCSEL modelling are discussed and their impact on exactness of VCSEL designing is analysed.
Increasing resolution of digital images using edge-based approach
Authors: Świerczyński Z. , Rokita P. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper presents the results of our research aimed at obtaining new methods for increasing resolution of digital images giving better visual results. Classification of these methods and implementation of some algorithms is also shortly presented here. The main part of the paper presents modification and development of the new methods. Main new feature, which we added to the interpolation algorithms, consists in taking into consideration in the final image (i.e., after interpolation at high resolution) the edges detected in the original image (i.e., before interpolation). Summing an image and its properly processed edges in the interpolation process enables us to get final image characterized by better sharpness with simultaneous precise presentation of the image details interpolated to higher resolution.
Superficial digital flexor tendon lesions in racehorses as a sequela to muscle fatigue: A preliminary study
Authors: Butcher M. T. , Hermanson J. W. , Ducharme N. G. , Mitchell L. M. , Soderholm L. V. , Bertram J. E. A. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryReasons for performing study: Racing and training related lesions of the forelimb superficial digital flexor tendon are a common career ending injury to racehorses but aetiology and/or predisposing causes of the injury are not completely understood.Objectives: Although the injury takes place within the tendon, the lesion must be considered within the context of the function of the complete suspensory system of the distal limb, including the associated muscles.Methods: Both muscle and tendon function were investigated in vivo using implanted strain gauges in 3 Thoroughbred horses walking, trotting and cantering on a motorised treadmill. These data were combined with assessments of muscle architecture and fibre composition to arrive at an overview of the contribution of each muscle‐tendon unit during locomotion.Results: The superficial digital flexor muscle has fatigue‐resistant and high force production properties that allow its tendon to store and return elastic energy, predominantly at the trot. As running speed increases, deep digital flexor tendon force increases and it stabilises hyperextension of the fetlock, thus reinforcing the superficial digital flexor in limb load support. The deep digital flexor muscle has fast contracting properties that render it susceptible to fatigue.Conclusion: Based on these measurements and supporting evidence from the literature, it is proposed that overloading of the superficial digital flexor tendon results from fatigue of the synergistic, faster contracting deep digital flexor muscle.Potential relevance: Future research investigating distal limb system function as a whole should help refine clinical diagnostic procedures and exercise training approaches that will lead to more effective prevention and treatment of digital flexor tendon injuries in equine athletes.
Effects of analgesia of the digital flexor tendon sheath on pain originating in the sole, distal interphalangeal joint or navicular bursa of horses
Authors: Harper J. , Schumacher John , Degraves F. , Schramme M. , Schumacher Jim 
Published: October 2007

SummaryReasons for performing study: Specific analgesic techniques are required in diagnosis of lameness to isolate the exact origin of pain to the many structures of the foot that may be involved.Objective: To determine if analgesia of the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) results in anaesthesia of other portions of the foot, such as the sole, distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ), or navicular bursa (NB).Methods: Lameness caused by pain in the dorsal margin or heel region of the sole of the foot was induced in 18 horses by: using set‐screws to create solar pressure (Trial 1: n = 5); or administering endotoxin intrasynovially into the DIPJ (Trial 2: n = 6) and NB (Trial 3: n = 7). The gait of each horse was evaluated by examining videotape recorded before and after creation of lameness and after administration of mepivacaine hydrochloride into the DFTS.Results: Median lameness scores inTrial 1at 10 min post injection of the DFTS were not significantly different from those before administration of local anaesthetic solution into the DFTS (P>0.05), but median lameness scores were reduced significantly at 20 min (P<0.05). InTrials 2and 3, median lameness scores were not significantly different at observations made at 10 and 20 min post injection of the DFTS.Conclusions: Analgesia of the DFTS has little effect on lameness caused by pain originating in the sole, DIPJ or NB.Potential relevance: Improvement of lameness in horses after intrasynovial analgesia of the DFTS is probably caused by attenuation of pain within the structures contained in the DFTS.
Interpretation of serum antibody response toAnoplocephala perfoliatain relation to parasite burden and faecal egg count
Authors: Kjær L. N. , Lungholt M. M. , Nielsen M. K. , Olsen S. N. , Maddox‐Hyttel C. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryReasons for performing study: Increased knowledge is needed to assist in the interpretation of presently available diagnostic techniques for infection by the tapewormAnoplocephala perfoliatain horses.Hypothesis: The suggested cut‐off level of an A.perfoliataspecific ELISA may not adequately reflect the actual infection level. Hence, faecal egg counts may be a more useful diagnostic test for individual horses than previously reported.Methods: Eighty‐four horses admitted for slaughter at a Danish abattoir were examined for the presence ofA. perfoliata.The number of tapeworms, their stage of development and gross pathological mucosal lesions were recorded and compared with serum antibody responses and faecal egg counts. Faecal egg counts were determined in samples fromA. perfoliatainfected horses using a semi‐quantitative centrifugation/flotation technique. Blood samples collected at slaughter were analysed by ELISA to determine serum antibody levels againstA. perfoliata12/13 kDa excretory/secretory antigens.Results: Macroscopically visible tapeworms were detected in 24 (29%) of the horses. The overall sensitivity of the faecal egg count was found to be 0.46; however, if the detection limit was increased to above 20 tapeworms, sensitivity increased to 0.89. There was a correlation of 0.71 between worm burden and egg count. The antibody levels correlated significantly with infection intensity despite a wide variation among horses with similar levels of infection. The optimal cut‐off value was determined using receiver operating characteristic analysis. If cut‐off was chosen at optical density (OD) = 0.7, sensitivity was 0.68 and specificity 0.71.Conclusions: Both diagnostic methods were capable of revealing potentially pathogenic infections, with the faecal egg count being more applicable on the individual horse level.Potential relevance: In the population of Danish horses investigated the serum ELISA test should be interpreted such that horses in need of anti‐Anoplocephalatreatment have an OD = 0.7 or above.
Platelet activation in ponies with airway inflammation
Authors: Dunkel B. , Rickards K. J. , Page C. P. , Cunningham F. M. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryReason for performing study: Platelet activation occurs in human obstructive airway diseases and in laboratory animal models. However, there is limited evidence that platelets may be involved in equine recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and other inflammatory diseases. This study investigated whether platelet activation also occurred in RAO.Hypothesis: Platelet function is altered in ponies with active RAO. This alteration can be detectedex vivoby measuring platelet adhesion.Methods: Anin vitroplatelet adhesion assay measuring acid phosphatase (AcP) activity colorimetrically was adapted for use with equine platelets and responses to selected agonists were established. Platelet adhesion and aggregation was evaluatedin vitroon platelets isolated from 6 ponies with RAO before, during and after a 7 h natural antigen challenge. Three ponies with no history of airway disease were also studied.Results: Adhesion of equine platelets to serum coated plastic was detected at concentrations of 10–100 times 109/l. Adhesion increased in response to stimulation with platelet activating factor and thrombin, but not equine interleukin 8. Prior to the antigen challenge, adhesion of nonstimulated platelets was low and increased significantly (P<0.05) 24 h after initiation of the challenge in RAOs, but not in the normal animals. No changes in platelet aggregation were noted in either group.Conclusions: The described assay offers an alternative method to evaluate platelet function in healthy and diseased horses and can detect changes not observed using a classic aggregation assay. Circulating platelets are activated 24 h after antigen challenge of ponies with RAO and may play a role in pulmonary inflammation and/or the pathophysiology of RAO.Potential relevance: Investigating platelet function in RAO and airway inflammation may reveal new aspects of the pathogenesis of inflammatory lung disease in the horse.
Endometrial gland surface density and hyperaemia of the endometrium during early pregnancy in the mare
Authors: Lefranc A.‐C. , Allen W. R. 
Published: October 2007

Summary Reasons for performing study: The morphology and surface density of endometrial glands responsible for the nutrition of the placenta requires further study employing computer assisted morphometric analysis. Objective: To analyse changes in the morphology and surface density of endometrial glands situated adjacent to, and remote from, the conceptus during the first 30 days of gestation. Methods: Endometrial biopsies were recovered, under videoendoscopic control, from both nonpregnant and pregnant mares 12 days after ovulation, as well as from pregnant mares on Days 16, 20, 25 and 30 of gestation. One biopsy was taken at the base of the nongravid uterine horn and the other from beneath the conceptus at the base of the gravid horn. The samples were evaluated by computer‐assisted morphometric analysis to determine the surface area per unit volume (Sv) of endometrial glands in the stratum spongiosum. Results: No differences in morphology or density of the glands were discernable between pregnant and nonpregnant mares on Day 12 day after ovulation. On Day 16, however, the glands beneath the conceptus appeared to be at a significantly lower density than the clearly more tortuous glands at the base of the nongravid horn. Between Days 20 and 30 of gestation the endometrium in direct contact with the conceptus was visibly more reddened and hyperaemic than elsewhere in the uterus. However, the Sv of glands beneath the conceptus had now increased again so they appeared similar to those in the nongravid horn, due mainly to a reduction in the level of stromal oedema in the former. Conclusion and potential relevance: The embryo‐maternal interactions that are vital during early pregnancy to suppress the cyclical luteolytic cascade and support nidation of the conceptus, were characterised here with local endometrial hyperaemia, histotroph production and a decrease in endometrial gland Sv at the commencement of the stationary phase. Both the components secreted by the endometrial glands and the factors liberated by the conceptus during early pregnancy need further investigation.
Factors affecting clinical assessment of insulin sensitivity in horses
Authors: Firshman A. M. , Valberg S. J. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryInsulin resistance is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of many equine conditions such as pars intermedia dysfunction, equine metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipaemia, laminitis, endotoxaemia and osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD); whereas polysaccharide storage myopathy in Quarter Horses and equine motor neuron disease (EMD) have been associated with increased insulin sensitivity. However, it is clear that there is not one ideal test, in terms of both practicality and accuracy, for evaluating insulin sensitivity in horses and improved diagnostic techniques are required.This review sets out the background to the subject and identifies current knowledge regarding the measurement of insulin sensitivity by tolerance testing and clamping techniques. Factors affecting insulin sensitivity, such as breed, pregnancy, lactation, obesity and nutritional factors are discussed. In addition, the relationship with training, nutritional supplementation and drug administration are considered.
The New Politics of Prejudice: Comparative Perspectives on Extreme Right Parties in European Democracies
Authors: Rensmann Lars 
Published: October 2007

Piero Ignazi, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)Cas Mudde, The Ideology of the Extreme Right (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003)Martin Schain, Aristide Zolberg, and Patrick Hossay, eds., Shadows over Europe: The Development and Impact of the Extreme Right in Western Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)
The Western Connection: Western Support for the East German Opposition
Authors: Cooper Belinda 
Published: October 2007

Without help from the west, the small East German opposition,such as it was, never would have achieved as much as it did. Themoney, moral support, media attention, and protection provided bywestern supporters may have made as much of a difference to theopposition as West German financial support made to the East Germanstate. Yet this help was often resented and rarely acknowledgedby eastern activists. Between 1988 and 1990, I worked withArche, an environmental network created in 1988 by East Germandissidents. During that time, the assistance provided by West Germans,émigré East Germans, and foreigners met with a level of distrustthat cannot entirely be blamed on secret police intrigue.Outsiders who tried to help faced a barrage of allegations and criticismof their work and motives. Dissidents who elected to remain inEast Germany distrusted those who emigrated, and vice versa,reflecting an unfortunate tendency, even among dissidents, to internalizeelements of East German propaganda. Yet neither the helpand support the East German opposition received from outside northe mentalities that stood in its way have been much discussed. Thisessay offers a description and analysis of the relationship betweenthe opposition and its outside supporters, based largely on one person’sfirst-hand experience.
Rauch ohne Feuer: Why Germany Lags in Tobacco Control
Authors: Cooper Alice H. , Kurzer Paulette 
Published: October 2007

The puzzle explored in this article is why Germany, in spite of itssuperb record in environmental policy and health care, has systematicallythwarted measures to reduce smoking rates. At this point,thousands of large-scale epidemiological findings demonstrate a relationshipbetween smoking and disease. Moreover, unlike alcohol,there is no safe amount of smoking. Cigarettes kill, and smoking isthe single largest source of preventable death in advanced industrializedstates. By various estimates, tobacco kills 500,000 Europeansper year, including 120,000 Germans. Globally, in the years 2025 to2030, smoking will kill 7 million people in the developing world and3 million in the industrialized world. No other consumer product isas dangerous as tobacco, which kills more people than AIDS, legaland illegal drugs, road accidents, murder, and suicide combined.
The Return of Memory: New Discussions about German Suffering in World War II
Authors: Langenbacher Eric 
Published: October 2007

Jörg Friedrich, Der Brand: Deutschland im Bombenkreig 1940-1945 (Munich: Propyläen Verlag, 2002)Günther Grass, Crabwalk (Orlando: Harcourt, 2002)W. G. Sebald, On the Natural History of Destruction (New York: Random House, 2003)
Changing Memory Regimes in Contemporary Germany?
Authors: Langenbacher Eric 
Published: October 2007

Are collective memories currently changing in the land where the“past won’t go away?” Long dominated by memory of the Holocaustand other Nazi-era crimes, Germany recently witnessed the emergenceof another memory based on the same period of history, butemphasizing German suffering. Most commentators stress the noveltyand catharsis of these discussions of supposedly long-repressedand unworked-through collective traumas and offer predominantlypsychoanalytic explanations regarding why these memories onlynow have surfaced. However, thanks to “presentist” myopia, ideologicalblinders, and the theoretical/political effects of Holocaustmemory, much of this discourse is misplaced because these Germancenteredmemories are emphatically not new. A reexamination ofthe evolution of dominant memories over the postwar period in theFederal Republic of Germany is necessary in order to understandand contextualize more fully these current debates and the changesin dominant memories that may be occurring—tasks this article takesup by utilizing the memory regime framework.