bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of microsomal enzymes in development of alcoholic liver diseases
Authors: Konishi Masahiro , Ishii Hiromasa 
Published: May 2007

AbstractChronic ethanol consumption results in the proliferation of the membranes of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Although these microsomal changes can be interpreted as adaptive alterations secondary to induction of the membranes after chronic ethanol ingestion, some injurious consequences may ensue. Accelerated ethanol metabolism results in enhanced production of acetaldehyde and exacerbation of its various toxic manifestations including enhanced lipid peroxidation. The latter may also be promoted more directly through enhanced free radical formation by the induced microsomes and cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1). Ethanol‐inducible CYP2E1 is of interest because of its ability to metabolize and activate many toxicologically important substrates including ethanol, CCl4, acetaminophen, and N‐nitrosodimethylamine, to more toxic products. Major interest in CYP2E1 reflects the ability of this enzyme to oxidize ethanol, to generate reactive products from ethanol oxidation (e.g. acetaldehyde and 1‐hydroxyethyl radical), to activate various agents including CCl4 and acetaminophen into reactive products, and to generate reactive oxygen species. There is considerable interest in the role of ethanol‐induced oxidative stress and generation of reactive oxygen species in the mechanisms by which ethanol becomes hepatotoxic. To understand the basic effects and actions of CYP2E1, an approach has been established to utilize the cell lines that constitutively express human CYP2E1. This review article briefly describes a role of microsomal enzymes in the development of alcoholic liver injury as well as the usefulness of this cell line to further clarify the mechanisms of CYP2E1‐related hepatotoxicity.
Role of adipocytokines in hepatic fibrogenesis
Authors: Ikejima Kenichi , Okumura Kyoko , Kon Kazuyoshi , Takei Yoshiyuki , Sato Nobuhiro 
Published: May 2007

AbstractObesity and insulin resistance are the key factors for progression of hepatic fibrosis in various chronic liver diseases including non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Recently it has been shown that leptin plays a pivotal role in development of hepatic fibrosis. Leptin promotes hepatic fibrogenesis through upregulation of transforming growth factor‐β in Kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells. Further, leptin facilitates proliferation and prevents apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells. There is a paradox, however, in that ob/ob mice and Zucker rats, which are the obese and diabetic strains, had minimal profibrogenic responses in the liver, most likely because they lack leptin and its receptors. To establish a more clinically relevant model to study the mechanism of fibrogenesis under steatohepatitis, fatty changes and profibrogenic responses in the liver caused by methionine–choline deficiency (MCD) were investigated in the KK‐Ay mouse, which is an obese and diabetic strain. KK‐Ay mice developed more severe hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis induced by an MCD diet as compared to C57Bl/6 controls. Importantly, KK‐Ay mice lack physiological upregulation of adiponectin levels, suggesting that adiponectin plays a pivotal role not only in regulation of insulin sensitivity but also in modulation of inflammatory and profibrogenic responses in dietary steatohepatitis. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that the balance of adipocytokine expression is a key regulator for the progression of hepatic fibrosis in the setting of steatohepatitis.
Polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellites in tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)
Authors: LIAO X. , SHAO C. W. , TIAN Y. S. , CHEN S. L 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe tongue sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis, is a rare marine flatfish distributed in Chinese coastal waters. From a (GT)n‐enriched genomic library, 57 microsatellites were isolated and characterized. Seventeen of these loci were polymorphic in a test population with alleles ranging from three to 13, and observed and expected heterozygosities from 0.1613 to 1.0000 and from 0.2126 to 0.8983, respectively. Five loci deviated from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in the sampled population, and linkage disequilibrium between two loci was significant after applying Bonferroni correction. Three additional fish species assessed for cross‐species amplification revealed that only one locus was also polymorphic in one species. These polymorphic microsatellite loci should provide sufficient level of genetic diversity to evaluate the breeding strategy and investigate the fine‐scale population structure in C. semilaevis.
In vivo recovery of human platelets in severe combined immunodeficient mice as a measure of platelet damage
Authors: Piper John T. , Gelderman Monique P. , Vostal Jaroslav G. 
Published: May 2007

BACKGROUND: Clinical performance of human platelet (PLT) products processed or stored under novel conditions is difficult to predict based on in vitro studies alone. Recovery and survival of radiolabeled PLTs in human subjects are used as surrogate markers for PLT efficacy in development of new products. Such experiments pose some risk to the participants, can be a financial burden on the sponsor, and may stifle innovation and development of new PLT products. Animal models for in vivo recovery and survival of human PLTs are limited by rapid, immune‐mediated clearance of human cells. The severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice allowed prolonged circulation of human PLTs and were used to detect differences in recovery and survival between chemically damaged, aged PLTs, or normal PLTs.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Human PLTs were transfused into SCID and wild‐type (WT) mice, and the recoveries and survival times were detected in mouse whole blood by flow cytometry with an anti‐human CD41–fluorescein isothiocyanate monoclonal antibody. Recoveries of damaged PLTs were compared to normal PLTs.RESULTS: Recoveries were significantly shorter in WT than in SCID mice at 4 hours after transfusion (WT, 20.8 ± 5.4%, n = 12; SCID, 63.8 ± 8.4%, n = 10) and with a t½ estimate of 2 hours for WT and 7 hours for SCID mice. Human PLTs damaged either by chemical treatment or by improper storage exhibited decreased recoveries in SCID mice.CONCLUSION: The SCID mouse model can detect differences between damaged and control human PLTs and could be useful in evaluating novel PLT collection, processing, and storage technologies that may impact PLT quality.
Atrial Macroreentry Tachycardia in Patients without Obvious Structural Heart Disease or Previous Cardiac Surgical or Catheter Intervention: Characterization of Arrhythmogenic Substrates, Reentry Circuits, and Results of Catheter Ablation
Authors: FIALA MARTIN , CHOVANČÍK JAN , NEUWIRTH RADEK , NEVŘALOVÁ RENÁTA , JIRAVSKÝ OTAKAR , ŠKŇOUŘIL LIBOR , DORDA MILOSLAV , JANUŠKA JAROSLAV , VODZINSKÁ ALEXANDRA , ČERNÝ JINDŘICH , NYKL IGOR , BRANNY MARIAN 
Published: May 2007

Introduction: Atrial macroreentry tachycardia (AMRT) in patients without obvious structural heart disease or previous surgical or catheter intervention has not been characterized in detail. Methods and Results: Electroanatomical mapping and ablation of right or left AMRT were performed in 33 patients. Right atrial central conduction obstacle was formed by an electrically silent area (ESA) in 15 (68%) patients and by a line of double potentials (DPs) in seven (32%) patients. Left atrial ESAs were found in all 11 patients with the left AMRT. Reentry circuit was reconstructed in 19 (86%) patients with right AMRT and seven (64%) patients with left AMRT. Of the ESA‐related right AMRT, eight (50%) were double‐loop reentry circuits utilizing a narrow critical isthmus within the ESA and eight (50%) were single‐loop reentry circuits with a critical isthmus bounded by ESA and either ostium of the vena cava. Single‐loop DP‐related AMRTs had the critical isthmus between the DP line and the ostium of the inferior vena cava (IVC). Left AMRTs included a variety of single‐, double‐, or triple‐loop reentry circuits and their critical isthmuses. During the 37 ± 15 month follow‐up, atrial tachyarrhythmia‐free clinical outcome was achieved in 21 (95%) patients (18 patients, 82%, without antiarrhythmic drugs) with the right AMRT and in nine (82%) patients (six patients, 55%, without antiarrhythmic drugs) with the left AMRT. Conclusion: The majority of right and left AMRTs were related to the presence of ESA. Ablation can be successful with a favorable risk of atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence.
Health services research in dermatology – current update and perspectives
Authors: Zimmer Lisa , Schommer Angela , Augustin Matthias 
Published: May 2007

Summary Background: An indepth knowledge of the demands on health care resources and the quality of health care provision is of major importance for the future care of skin and allergy patients. We present a comprehensive summary of all available health care data and research activities in dermatology in Germany. Methods: A standardized electronic literature search was performed using PUBMED as well as a manual search to identify activities in the field of health services research in dermatology. Furthermore, questionnaires were sent to 114 dermatology hospitals and to 52 health service research institutions in Germany. Results: The overall return rate of the survey was 81%.Hints on projects were given by 30 hospitals and 5 institutions. Most of these projects were in the field of epidemiology, quality of life, economy and prevention. Finally, the search identified 101 health services research projects in Germany. In addition, material gathered from internet and secondary citations from scientific journals produced a total of 216 publications. Only few projects were found on the working conditions of physicians and other health care professionals, on the implementation of guidelines, on needs and use of dermatological services and on the quality of care. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that there are substantial deficiencies in some important areas of health services research in dermatology.To provide efficient and qualified dermatological health care in Germany in the future, more research projects on the needs, demands and quality of health care are needed.
A potential predictive marker for response to interferon in malignant melanoma
Authors: Wild Peter J. , Meyer Stefanie , Landthaler Michael , Hofstaedter Ferdinand , Bosserhoff Anja Katrin 
Published: May 2007

SummaryThe methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (mtap) gene is localized on chromosome 9p21, a chromosomal region often affected by deletion in several kinds of malignant tumors. Studies on malignant melanoma have revealed loss of MTAP expression in vitro and in vivo; however, loss of MTAP expression is mainly regulated by promoter hypermethylation. Loss of MTAP was shown to have an effect on tumor invasion and metastasis. In a recent study, MTAP not only had a role as tumor suppressor but was also implicated in lack of therapeutic response of patients with recurrent malignant melanoma. There is evidence that loss of MTAP results in an inhibition of STAT signaling pathways regulated by interferon. This in turn leads to ineffectiveness of interferon therapy. Determination of the MTAP status in the primary tumor could, therefore, potentially lead to a selection of patients who benefit from interferon treatment.
Rates of Predation by Scouting‐and‐Recruiting Ants on the Brood of a Swarm‐Founding Wasp in Costa Rica
Authors: Bouwma Andrew M. , Howard Kenneth J. , Jeanne Robert L. 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTAnt predation is widely believed to play an important role in life history and evolution of tropical social wasps. While army ants are known to cause high rates of nest loss in swarm‐founding social wasps, no studies have quantified the impact of predation by non‐army ants on colony success. In this study we recorded survivorship of colonies of the swarm‐founding wasp, Polybia occidentalis, in Costa Rica at a site where we suspected that scouting‐and‐recruiting ants cause nest abandonment. We found that scouting‐and‐recruiting ants prey upon active nests of P. occidentalis, and conclude that predation by these ants is an important brood mortality factor in the life history of P. occidentalis colonies at our field site.
The Brain Locus of Interaction between Number and Size: A Combined Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Event-related Potential Study
Authors: Kadosh Roi Cohen , Kadosh Kathrin Cohen , Linden David E. J. , Gevers Wim , Berger Andrea , Henik Avishai 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
Whether the human brain is equipped with a special neural substrate for numbers, or rather with a common neural substrate for processing of several types of magnitudes, has been the topic of a long-standing debate. The present study addressed this question by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERPs) together with the size-congruity paradigm, a Stroop-like task in which numerical values and physical sizes were varied independently. In the fMRI experiment, a region-of-interest analysis of the primary motor cortex revealed interference effects in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the response hand, indicating that the stimulus-stimulus conflict between numerical and physical magnitude is not completely resolved until response initiation. This result supports the assumption of distinct comparison mechanisms for physical size and numerical value. In the ERP experiment, the cognitive load was manipulated in order to probe the degree to which information processing is shared across cognitive systems. As in the fMRI experiment, we found that the stimulus-stimulus conflict between numerical and physical magnitude is not completely resolved until response initiation. However, such late interaction was found only in the low cognitive load condition. In contrast, in the high load condition, physical and numerical dimensions interacted only at the comparison stage. We concluded that the processing of magnitude can be subserved by shared or distinct neural substrates, depending on task requirements.
Impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the U.S. Climate during Northern Summer
Authors: Wang Zhuo , Chang C-P. , Wang Bin 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
The impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the U.S. climate during northern summer are analyzed separately. Composite analyses reveal that a continental-scale anomalous high dominates over most of North America during La Niña events and leads to hot and dry summers over the central United States. However, the impacts of El Niño over North America are weaker and more variable.
A linear barotropic model is used to explore the maintenance of the anomalous patterns. Various forcing terms derived from observations via a single-level vorticity budget analysis are used to drive the model. When the barotropic model is driven by the total forcing (Rossby wave source plus transient eddy forcing plus nonlinear interactions), the model simulations resemble the observed patterns, and a strong and extensive anticyclone is reproduced in the La Niña simulation. The model responses to the individual forcing terms suggested that the vorticity stretching term ( fD) and the transient eddy forcing contribute most to the responses over North America. The stretching term ( fD) excites a low in the El Niño simulation and a high in the La Niña simulation over North America. However, the transient eddy forcing favors an anomalous high over North America in both El Niño and La Niña simulations, such that it weakens the El Niño pattern and strengthens the La Niña pattern.
An Estimate of the Sampling Error Variance of the Gridded GHCN Monthly Surface Air Temperature Data
Authors: Shen S. S. P. , Yin H. , Smith T. M. 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
The sampling error variances of the 5° × 5° Global Historical Climatological Network (GHCN) monthly surface air temperature data are estimated from January 1851 to December 2001. For each GHCN grid box and for each month in the above time interval, an error variance is computed. The authors’ error estimation is determined by two parameters: the spatial variance and a correlation factor determined by using a regression. The error estimation procedures have the following steps. First, for a given month for each grid box with at least four station anomalies, the spatial variance of the grid box’s temperature anomaly, σ̂2s, is calculated by using a 5-yr moving time window (MTW). Second, for each grid box with at least four stations, a regression is applied to find a correlation factor, αs, in the same 5-yr MTW. Third, spatial interpolation is used to fill the spatial variance and the correlation factor in grid boxes with less than four stations. Fourth, the sampling error variance is calculated by using the formula E2 = αsσ̂2s/N, where N is the total number of observations for the grid box in the given month. The two parameters of the authors’ error estimation are compared with those of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit for the decadal data. The comparison shows a close agreement of the parameters’ values for decadal data. An advantage of this new method is the generation of monthly error estimates. The authors’ error product will be available at the U.S. National Climatic Data Center.
Extratropical Atmospheric Response to Equatorial Atlantic Cold Tongue Anomalies
Authors: Haarsma Reindert J. , Hazeleger Wilco 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
The extratropical atmospheric response to the equatorial cold tongue mode in the Atlantic Ocean has been investigated with the coupled ocean–atmosphere model, Speedy Ocean (SPEEDO). Similar to the observations, the model simulates a lagged covariability between the equatorial cold tongue mode during late boreal summer and the east Atlantic pattern a few months later in early winter. The equatorial cold tongue mode attains its maximum amplitude during late boreal summer. However, only a few months later, when the ITCZ has moved southward, it is able to induce a significant upper-tropospheric divergence that is able to force a Rossby wave response. The lagged covariability is therefore the result of the persistence of the cold tongue anomaly and a favorable tropical atmospheric circulation a few months later. The Rossby wave energy is trapped in the South Asian subtropical jet and propagates circumglobally before it reaches the North Atlantic. Due to the local increase of the Hadley circulation, forced by the cold tongue anomaly, the subtropical jet over the North Atlantic is enhanced. The resulting increase in the vertical shear of the zonal wind increases the baroclinicity over the North Atlantic. This causes the nonlinear growth of the anomalies due to transient eddy feedbacks to be largest over the North Atlantic, resulting in an enhanced response over that region.
The different roles of cyclinD1-CDK4 in STP and mGluR-LTD during the postnatal development in mice hippocampus area CA1
Authors: Li Chenchen , Li Xinmei , Chen Weiheng , Yu Shanshan , Chen Jutao , Wang Huili , Ruan Diyun 
Published: May 2007

Abstract

Background
Cell-cycle-related proteins, such as cyclins or cyclin-dependent kinases, may have functions beyond that of cell cycle regulation. The expression and translocation of cyclinD1-CDK4 in post-mitotic neurons indicate that they may have supplementary functions in differentiated neurons that might be associated with neuronal plasticity.

Results
In the present study, our findings showed that the expression of CDK4 was localized mostly in nuclei and cytoplasm of pyramidal cells of CA1 at postnatal day 10 (P10); whereas at P28 staining of CDK4 could be detected predominantly in the cytoplasm but not nuclei. Basal synaptic transmission was normal in the presence of CDK4 inhibitor. Short-term synaptic plasticity (STP) was impaired in CDK4 inhibitor pre-treated slices both from neonatal (P8-15) and adolescent (P21-35) animals; however there was no significant change in paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) in slices pre-incubated with the CDK4 inhibitor from adolescent animals. By the treatment of CDK4 inhibitor, the induction or the maintenance of Long-term potentiation (LTP) in response to a strong tetanus and NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression (LTD) were normal in hippocampus. However, long-term depression (LTD) induced either by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) agonist or by paired-pulse low-frequency stimulation (PP-LFS) was impaired in CDK4 inhibitor pretreated slices both from neonatal and adolescent animals. But the effects of the CDK4 inhibitor at slices from adolescent animals were not as robust as at slices from neonatal animals.

Conclusion
Our results indicated that the activation of cyclinD1-CDK4 is required for short-term synaptic plasticity and mGluR-dependent LTD, and suggested that this cyclin-dependent kinase may have different roles during the postnatal development in mice hippocampus area CA1.
Hypoxic conditions increase hypoxia-inducible transcription factor 2α and enhance chondrogenesis in stem cells from the infrapatellar fat pad of osteoarthritis patients
Authors: Khan Wasim S , Adesida Adetola B , Hardingham Timothy E 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStem cells derived from the infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) are a potential source of stem cells for the repair of articular cartilage defects. Hypoxia has been shown to improve chondrogenesis in adult stem cells. In this study we investigated the effects of hypoxia on gene expression changes and chondrogenesis in stem cells from the IPFP removed from elderly patients with osteoarthritis at total knee replacement. Adherent colony-forming cells were isolated and cultured from the IPFP from total knee replacement. The cells at passage 2 were characterised for stem cell surface epitopes, and then cultured for 14 days as cell aggregates in chondrogenic medium under normoxic (20% oxygen) or hypoxic (5% oxygen) conditions. Gene expression analysis, DNA and glycosoaminoglycan assays and immunohistochemical staining were determined to assess chondrogenesis. IPFP-derived adherent colony-forming cells stained strongly for markers of adult mesenchymal stem cells, including CD44, CD90 and CD105, and they were negative for the haematopoietic cell marker CD34 and for the neural and myogenic cell marker CD56. Cell aggregates of IPFP cells showed a chondrogenic response. In hypoxic conditions there was increased matrix accumulation of proteoglycan but less cell proliferation, which resulted in 3.5-fold more glycosoaminoglycan per DNA after 14 days of culture. In hypoxia there was increased expression of hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF)2α and not HIF1α, and the expression of key transcription factors SOX5, SOX6 and SOX9, and that of aggrecan, versican and collagens II, IX, X and XI, was also increased. These results show that cells with stem cell characteristics were isolated from the IPFP of elderly patients with osteoarthritis and that their response to chondrogenic culture was enhanced by lowered oxygen tension, which upregulated HIF2α and increased the synthesis and assembly of matrix during chondrogenesis. This has important implications for tissue engineering applications of cells derived from the IPFP.