bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intact and total insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) levels in relation to breast cancer risk factors: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Diorio Caroline , Brisson Jacques , Bérubé Sylvie , Pollak Michael 
Published: May 2008

Abstract
Introduction
Levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and its main binding protein (IGFBP-3) have been associated with breast cancer risk among premenopausal women. However, associations of IGFBP-3 levels with breast cancer risk have been inconsistent, possibly due to the different predominant forms of circulating IGFBP-3 (intact versus fragmented) that were measured in these studies. Here, we examine the association of breast cancer risk factors with intact and total IGFBP-3 levels.

Methods
This cross-sectional study includes 737 premenopausal women recruited at screening mammography. Plasma intact and total IGFBP-3 and IGF-I levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods. Percent and absolute breast density were estimated using a computer-assisted method. The associations were evaluated using generalized linear models and Pearson (r) or Spearman (rs) partial correlation coefficients.

Results
Means ± standard deviations of intact and total IGFBP-3 levels (ng/mL) were 1,044 ± 234 and 4,806 ± 910, respectively. Intact and total IGFBP-3 levels were correlated with age and smoking. Levels of intact IGFBP-3 were negatively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (r = -0.128; P = 0.0005), parity (rs = -0.078; P = 0.04), and alcohol intake (r = -0.137; P = 0.0002) and positively correlated with energy intake (r = 0.075; P = 0.04). In contrast, total IGFBP-3 levels were positively correlated with WHR (r = 0.115; P = 0.002), parity (rs = 0.089; P = 0.02), body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.115; P = 0.002), physical activity (r = 0.118; P = 0.002), and IGF-I levels (r = 0.588; P < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with percent or absolute breast density (r = -0.095; P = 0.01 and r = -0.075; P = 0.04, respectively).

Conclusion
Our data show that associations of some breast cancer risk factors with intact levels of IGFBP-3 are different from those with total (intact and fragmented) IGFBP-3 levels. These findings suggest that different molecular forms of IGFBP-3 may bear different relations to premenopausal breast cancer risk.
Interleukin 21: a cytokine/cytokine receptor system that has come of age
Authors: Leonard Warren J , Zeng Rong , Spolski Rosanne 
Published: May 2008

AbstractInterleukin-21 (IL-21) and its receptor represent the sixth cytokine system whose actions were recognized to require the common cytokine receptor γ chain. IL-21 is produced by activated CD4+ T cells, natural killer T cells, and follicular T helper cells and has actions on a range of lymphohematopoietic lineages. Among its many effects, IL-21 serves a critical role for immunoglobulin production and terminal B cell differentiation, acts as a T cell comitogen and can drive the expansion of CD8+ T cells, can negatively regulate dendritic cell function and plays an essential role in the differentiation of Th17 cells. Importantly, IL-21 is implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity and exhibits potent actions as an antitumor agent. The ability to regulate and manipulate the actions of IL-21, therefore, has important implications for immunoregulation and the therapy of human disease.
Anti-CD25 antibodies affect cytokine synthesis pattern of human dendritic cells and decrease their ability to prime allogeneic CD4+ T cells
Authors: Mnasria K , Lagaraine C , Velge-Roussel F , Oueslati R , Lebranchu Y , Baron C 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAnti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies are widely used in clinical transplantation to prevent acute allograft rejection. Although their effects on T lymphocytes have been extensively studied, their impact on human dendritic cells (DC) has never been reported. Furthermore, the role of the IL-2 in DC functions has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we confirm that the stimulation of human monocyte-derived DC with LPS strongly induced the expression of CD25 and that LPS-matured DC also expressed the β and γ chain of the IL-2R. We also showed that adding anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies to LPS induced a decrease in IL-12, IL-1, TNF-α, IL-6, and IFN-γ production and an increase in IL-10 synthesis by DC compared with stimulation with LPS alone. Furthermore, we showed that these modifications diminished the T helper priming ability of DC and polarized the alloimmune response toward TH2. In contrast, humanized anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies did not affect the up-regulation of CD86, CD80, CD83, HLADR, or CD40 induced upon LPS stimulation. Taken together, this study discloses some previously unrecognized effects of anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies on DC that may contribute to their clinical efficacy. In addition, this study also shed some light on the role of the IL-2 in human DC activation.
Macrophages define the invasive microenvironment in breast cancer
Authors: Pollard Jeffrey W 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIn many human cancers, the abundance of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment is correlated with poor prognosis. Experimental evidence for the causal relationship between macrophages and poor prognosis came from mouse models of breast cancer in which genetic ablation of macrophages resulted in attenuation of tumor progression and metastasis, and premature recruitment to hyperplastic lesions accelerated these processes. Malignancy is defined by the invasion of tumor cells into the stroma, a process that allows escape of these cells into the circulation and dissemination to distant sites. In this review, I argue that macrophages are recruited to the invasive front by expression of tumor-derived chemotactic factors and in response to the disruption of the basement membrane. At this invasive site, macrophages enhance tumor cell migration and invasion through their secretion of chemotactic and chemokinetic factors including epidermal growth factor (EGF). They promote angiogenesis by the synthesis of angiogenic factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and they remodel the extracellular matrix and in particular, regulate collagen fibrillogenesis. A combination of these factors provides a triple-whammy, as the more mobile and invasive tumor cells track along collagen fibers that are also anchored to blood vessels, which are fabricated at sites of invasion and through which macrophages potentiate tumor cell intravasation. All of these activities suggest that macrophage functions are significant targets for the generation of novel therapeutics that should improve the current cytotoxic armamentarium.
Chemokines in and out of the central nervous system: much more than chemotaxis and inflammation
Authors: Cardona Astrid E , Li Meizhang , Liu Liping , Savarin Carine , Ransohoff Richard M 
Published: May 2008

AbstractActions of chemokines and the interaction with specific receptors go beyond their original, defined role of recruiting leukocytes to inflamed tissues. Chemokine receptor expression in peripheral elements and resident cells of the central nervous system (CNS) represents a relevant communication system during neuroinflammatory conditions. The following examples are described in this review: Chemokine receptors play important homeostatic properties by regulating levels of specific ligands in blood and tissues during healthy and pathological conditions; chemokines and their receptors are clearly involved in leukocyte extravasation and recruitment to the CNS, and current studies are directed toward understanding the interaction between chemokine receptors and matrix metalloproteinases in the process of blood brain barrier breakdown. We also propose novel functions of chemokine receptors during demyelination/remyelination, and developmental processes.
CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein-β Is a Transcriptional Regulator of Peroxisome-Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Coactivator-1α in the Regenerating Liver
Authors: Wang Haitao , Peiris T. Harshani , Mowery A. , Le Lay John , Gao Yan , Greenbaum Linda E. 
Published: May 2008

Abstract
The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is induced in the liver in response to fasting and coordinates the activation of targets necessary for increasing energy production for gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis. After partial hepatectomy, the liver must restore its mass while maintaining metabolic homeostasis to ensure survival. Here we report that PGC-1α is rapidly and dramatically induced after hepatectomy, with an amplitude of induction that exceeds the fasting response. Maximal activation of PGC-1α after hepatectomy is dependent on the basic leucine zipper transcription factor, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-β (C/EBPβ), a critical factor in hepatocyte proliferation. We demonstrate in vivo C/EBPβ binding to C/EBP and cAMP response element sites in the PGC-1α promoter and show that the C/EBP site is essential for PGC-1α activation. Expression of the PGC-1α target, carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1a, the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid β-oxidation, and of long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase, an enzyme involved in β-oxidation of long chain fatty acids, was significantly reduced in C/EBPβ−/− livers after hepatectomy. These findings identify C/EBPβ as a direct activator of PGC-1α in the regenerating liver. The demonstration of a functional link between C/EBPβ and PGC-1α activation provides a likely mechanism for how upstream signaling pathways in the regenerating liver can enable the adaptation to the changed metabolic status.
Active Living and Biking: Tracing the Evolution of a Biking System in Arlington, Virginia
Authors: Hanson Royce , Young Garry 
Published: May 2008

In Arlington, Virginia, a steady evolutionary change in biking policy during the last three decades has yielded some of the nation's best biking assets. It has a comprehensive, well-connected, highly integrated, well-mapped, and well-signed system of shared-use paved trails, bike lanes, bike routes, and other biking assets, such as workplace showers. Understanding the conditions that led to Arlington's current biking system can provide lessons in the strategy and tactics of active-living politics.One potentially effective political strategy that was successful in Arlington is for activists to pressure elected officials to select professional managers who see bikeways as crucial to the overall transportation system. Then it is important to formalize the government-citizen relationship through an advisory panel. Also, in Arlington, the incremental creation of biking assets helped create demand for more and better facilities. In turn, this created political support for expanding and upgrading. Finally, Arlington used potentially negative circumstances (e.g., the building of highway corridors, the introduction of the Metro) as opportunities to change the built environment in ways that have encouraged more active living.
Reynolds equation, apparent slip, and viscous friction in a three-layered fluid film
Authors: Meurisse M-H , Morales Espejel G 
Published: May 2008

Experimental evidence of wall slip in lubricated contacts sometimes leads to reconsider the usual no-slip conditions. The main theoretical slip conditions found in literature depend on parameters (shear stress threshold, slip length, etc.) to which calculated friction is directly related. A different point of view, on which this work is focused, considers that the apparent wall shear rate is only representative of the bulk flow, and assumes the existence of wall layers, which define the actual local shear rate and friction. The aim of this exploratory work is to build a generalized Reynolds model, with no-slip wall conditions, able to simulate situations of either slip or immobile layers. A very simple ‘rheological’ model, consisting of different Newtonian viscosities in the bulk flow and in wall layers is used. By varying the orders of magnitude of the layers’ thicknesses and viscosities, it is possible to capture all possibilities between apparent wall slip and immobile layers. The model is applied to a plane pad bearing at a prescribed load, and revealed two modes of velocity accommodation giving friction forces significantly smaller than those for a mono-layered film: plug flow with apparent wall slip or middle slip layers.
Selective growth of epitaxial Ag film using tribo-assisted reorientation
Authors: Goto M , Akimoto K , Honda F 
Published: May 2008

The growth process and crystallinity of incremental Ag films with thicknesses of 5, 50, and 500 nm, grown on reoriented Ag (1 1 1) surface of 5 nm Ag layer were studied by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction and synchrotron-orbital-radiated X-ray diffraction. These studies clarified the correlation between the film orientation and the initial orientation of the basal plane, as a function of the incremental thickness. The incremental film grows epitaxially on the reoriented surface up to 500 nm in thickness, and the orientational degree increases with thickness. When the Ag film grows as a polycrystalline structure up to 50 nm in thickness, however, the Ag (1 1 1) orientation is then dominant at a thickness of 500 nm. The incremental films on the reoriented surface show a higher degree of crystal orientation than that on the initial polycrystalline surface, and the difference in orientational degree between these films on the two different kinds of basal planes becomes small as the thickness increases. A new method for selective growth of the epitaxial Ag layer using tribological phenomenon is presented under complete dry process. The feasibility of diffracted X-ray patterning by the difference between Ag (1 1 1) diffraction intensities from the two incremental regions is also discussed to show one kind of application using selective growth phenomena.
Gear power loss performance of biodegradable low-toxicity ester-based oils
Authors: Martins R , Cardoso N , Seabra J 
Published: May 2008

Environmental issues are leading to a growing interest in bio-lubricants, which can have similar or even better performance than mineral and synthetic oils. In this work, the power loss performance of two biodegradable, low toxicity, ester-based gear oils was evaluated and compared with a commercial mineral oil and an ester-based fluid containing zinc dialkyl dithio phosphate (ZDDP) additives. Power loss tests were performed on the FZG test rig, using type C carburized gears and the different lubricants under evaluation. The operating temperatures of the oil and of the FZG gearbox wall were measured for different values of the input torque and speed and lubricant samples were periodically collected and analysed by direct reading ferrography. At the end of the tests, the gear mass loss and the oil viscosity were measured, the teeth flanks were inspected, looking for typical surface failure mechanisms, and the tooth flank surface roughness was measured. An energetic model of the FZG test gearbox, which took into account the power loss mech-anisms inside the gearbox and the heat flow mechanisms from the gearbox to the surrounding environment, was used to calculate the friction losses between the gear teeth, knowing the oil, gearbox wall, and room temperatures, in steady-state conditions. Using this model, it was poss-ible to analyse the influence of lubricant formulation on the average friction coefficient between gear teeth. The results obtained showed that one of the biodegradable, low-toxicity, ester-based gear oils generated significantly lower mass loss than all the other lubricants, presenting almost no degradation, even when operating at very high temperature for long periods. These bio-lubricants generated friction coefficients between gear teeth up to 27 per cent smaller than the commercial mineral oil, promoted significant reductions of the power loss inside the FZG gearbox, increasing the overall efficiency up to 0.25 per cent.
A modified theoretical model of boundary friction in conjunction with rough-surface contacts
Authors: Nakahara T , Momozono S 
Published: May 2008

This paper describes a modification of the theoretical model presented by Nakahara for estimating the static friction coefficient of the contact between rough surfaces and a boundary film. The theoretical model is modified from Halling's friction model for soft thin metallic films. The effective hardness in Halling's model is transposed with a new model, which is modified from Bhattacharya—Nix's equation for a conical indenter, in order to apply it to a spherical indenter on the basis of Johnson's cavity model. Nakahara's model takes into consideration the effect of pressure on the shear strength of the boundary film, which was suggested by Briscoe et al., and it can elucidate the effects of the following factors on the friction coefficient: apparent contact pressure, film thickness, the three parameters of roughness in Greenwood—Williamson's model, and the ratio of film bulk hardness to substrate hardness. This study elucidates the effects of the following factors on the new model of static coefficient of friction proposed by Nakahara: the difference between parabolic and spherical indenters, elastic deformation under the condition of contact with a substrate, i.e. film breakdown, and the adhesion force at the contact.
Amalgamation of future time orientation, epistemological beliefs, achievement goals and study strategies: Empirical evidence established
Authors: Phan Huy P. 
Published: May 2008

Background Recently research evidence emphasizes two main lines of inquiry, namely the relations between future time perspective (FTP), achievement goals (mastery, performance‐approach, and performance‐avoidance) and study processing strategies, and the relations between epistemological beliefs, achievement goals and study processing strategies. To date, however, there have been very few attempts made to amalgamate these two strands of inquiry within one study and how they in totality determine the success of academic learning.Aims This study proposed and tested a conceptual model of relationships among FTP, epistemological beliefs, achievement goals (mastery, performance‐approach, and performance‐avoidance), study processing strategies and academic performance.Sample Two hundred and seventy‐five tertiary second‐year students (167 females, 108 males) enrolled in a university in the Pacific participated in this study.Method Likert‐scale inventories were used to elicit relevant data from students; for example, the epistemological questionnaire (EQ; Schommer, 1990) and the Zimbardo time perspective inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Academic performance was collated from students' course and final exam marks in the course educational psychology. LISREL 8.72 and SPSS 15 was used to test and evaluate the conceptual model proposed.Results Latent variables procedures supported the conceptual model in general, although not all hypothesized paths were significant. MANOVA indicated no gender differences in the five theoretical frameworks or academic performance.Discussion The determinants of academic performance from our findings are deep and surface processing strategies. Furthermore, the established supports the mediating roles of deep processing strategies, mastery goals, and performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goals.
Young people’s social networks and language use
Authors: Morris Delyth 
Published: May 2008

This paper outlines the results of a project carried out in Wales between 2003–2005, looking at the social networks and language use of young people aged 13–17 years. Twenty four participants were studied in twelve different areas of Wales, making a total sample group of 288. The participants were selected on the basis of their own Welsh language competence and that of their parents. The resulting network configurations across the various locations portrayed quite different responses regarding the young people’s use of the Welsh language. The major determinant of the Welsh language density of the networks was the language used by the respondent in the home. The analysis of the data allowed the development of a typology of locations distinguished by the incidence of the use of Welsh in different social networks. Three types of communities emerged – firstly, those which integrate dominant language speakers; secondly, communities containing two distinct language groups; and thirdly, communities where Welsh is rapidly being assimilated into the normative context where English is the predominant language.
Ex Vivo Pretreatment with Melatonin Improves Survival, Proangiogenic/Mitogenic Activity, and Efficiency of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Injected into Ischemic Kidney
Authors: Mias Céline , Trouche Elodie , Seguelas Marie-Hélène , Calcagno Fabien , Dignat-George Françoise , Sabatier Florence , Piercecchi-Marti Marie-Dominique , Daniel Laurent , Bianchi Pascale , Calise Denis , Bourin Philippe , Parini Angelo , Cussac Daniel 
Published: May 2008

AbstractBone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown great potential in cell therapy of solid organs. Approaches to improving the ability of grafted MSCs to survive and secrete paracrine factors represent one of the challenges for the further development of this novel therapy. In the present study, we designed a strategy of ex vivo pretreatment with the pineal hormone melatonin to improve survival, paracrine activity, and efficiency of MSCs. Using a rat model of acute renal failure, we showed that melatonin pretreatment strongly increased survival of MSCs after intraparenchymal injection. This effect was concomitant with overstimulation of angiogenesis, proliferation of renal cells, and accelerated recovery of renal function. To gain insight into the mechanisms involved in the effects observed in vivo, melatonin was tested in vitro on cultured MSCs. Our results show that through stimulation of specific melatonin receptors, melatonin induced an overexpression of the antioxidant enzyme catalase and superoxide dismutase-1 and increased the resistance of MSCs to hydrogen peroxide-dependent apoptosis. Compared with untreated cells, MSCs incubated with melatonin displayed a higher expression of basic fibroblast growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor. In addition, conditioned culture media from melatonin-treated MSCs stimulated tube formation by endothelial progenitor cells and proliferation of proximal tubule cells in culture. In conclusion, our results show that melatonin behaves as a preconditioning agent increasing survival, paracrine activity, and efficiency of MSCs. The use of this molecule for pretreatment of stem cells may represent a novel and safe approach to improving the beneficial effects of cell therapy of solid organs.Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.