bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
‘Die perfekte Welle’: possible solutions to the crisis of the international music industry with the help of national language music
Authors: Wolther Irving 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIs the proportion of German language music in total record sales in Germany a cause for optimism or for concern? This question is very difficult to answer as the national branch of the IFPI only supplies statistics on ‘national repertoire’ and not specifically on ‘national language repertoire’ – and even that covers music sung in any language, not only in German. Since the call for a music quota for radio stations lacks a precise definition (German or German language) there is some reason to suspect that the real aim behind this discussion is not to support German music culture but rather national economic interests. As a matter of fact, the average proportion of German language songs in the charts is currently the highest it has been in the last thirty years.An analysis of the Top 20 in the national end-of-year charts of various European countries shows that the number of national language songs is generally increasing again after a substantial decline in the 1980s and 1990s. This is the case not only with record sales but also with airplay. This means that the increase cannot only be due to the massive drop in sales of international repertoire caused by file sharing on the Internet.
Efficient functional clustering of protein sequences using the Dirichlet process
Authors: Brown Duncan P. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractMotivation: Automatic clustering of protein sequences is an important problem in computational biology. The recent explosion in genome sequences has given biological researchers a vast number of novel protein sequences. However, the majority of these sequences have no experimental evidence for their molecular function in the cell, and the responsibility for correctly annotating these sequences falls upon the bioinformatics community. Ideally, we would like to be able to group sequences of similar or identical molecular function in an automatic fashion, without relying on experimental evidence.Results: In this article I present a novel probabilistic framework that models subfamilies within a known protein family. Given a multiple sequence alignment, the model uses Dirichlet mixture densities to estimate amino acid preferences within subfamily clusters, and places a Dirichlet process prior on the overall set of clusters. Based on results from several datasets, the model breaks data accurately into functional subgroups.Availability: The algorithm is implemented as c++ software available at bpg-research.berkeley.edu/~duncanb/dpcluster/Contact: duncan_brown@merck.comSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Ontologizer 2.0—a multifunctional tool for GO term enrichment analysis and data exploration
Authors: Bauer Sebastian , Grossmann Steffen , Vingron Martin , Robinson Peter N. 
Published: May 2008

Abstract
Summary: The Ontologizer is a Java application that can be used to perform statistical analysis for overrepresentation of Gene Ontology (GO) terms in sets of genes or proteins derived from an experiment. The Ontologizer implements the standard approach to statistical analysis based on the one-sided Fisher's exact test, the novel parent–child method, as well as topology-based algorithms. A number of multiple-testing correction procedures are provided. The Ontologizer allows users to visualize data as a graph including all significantly overrepresented GO terms and to explore the data by linking GO terms to all genes/proteins annotated to the term and by linking individual terms to child terms.
Availability: The Ontologizer application is available under the terms of the GNU GPL. It can be started as a WebStart application from the project homepage, where source code is also provided: http://compbio.charite.de/ontologizer
Requirements: Ontologizer requires a Java SE 5.0 compliant Java runtime engine and GraphViz for the optional graph visualization tool.
Contact: sebastian.bauer@charite.de; peter.robinson@charite.de
Painful Brachial Plexopathies in SEPT9 Mutations: Adverse Outcome Related to Comorbid States
Authors: Hoque Romy , Schwendimann Robert N , Kelley Roger E , Bien-Willner Ricardo , Sivakumar Kumaraswamy 
Published: May 2008

Abstract

Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA), an autosomal dominant disorder associated with SEPT9 mutation located on chromosome 17q25, causes recurrent painful weakness with sensory disturbances in a brachial distribution. We present electrophysiological, clinical phenotype, and molecular genetic data of three members from a family with HNA with the C262T SEPT9 mutation. The degree of motor weakness and recovery is variable within this family. Severity and recovery from motor deficits may have been a function of comorbid medical conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first report to confirm SEPT9 mutation in a family with suspected HNA.
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy Associated With Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Sharma Khema R , Saadia Daniela , Facca Alicia G , Bhatia Rita , Ayyar D Ram , Sheremata William 
Published: May 2008

Abstract

Objective:
To describe temporal profile of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) in patients with definite, relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS).

Background:
Peripheral demyelinating neuropathy has been rarely reported in association with central nervous system demyelinating disorder indistinguishable from MS.

Methods:
In addition to usual diagnostic studies for CIDP and MS in all 5 patients, we studied proximal segments of nerves using deep tendon reflex latency measurements of biceps reflex, patellar reflex, and ankle reflex.

Results:
All patients with MS subsequently (4-22 years) developed definite CIDP. Two of these patients developed multiple cranial nerve and spinal root enhancement on subsequent imaging without new intraparenchymal enhancement after a diagnosis of CIDP. The deep tendon reflex latencies were prolonged at more than 2 sites in all patients. Cerebral spinal fluid protein increased (70 ± 19 to 144.8 ± 17.4 mg/dL, P = 0.0001) at time of diagnosis of CIDP. Clinical improvement was observed in all patients after intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.

Conclusions:
When patients with MS develop CIDP, manifestations of central and peripheral disease involvement seem to respond to intravenous immunoglobulin. These cases suggest that there may be common antigenic targets in central and peripheral nervous system in this subset of patients.
Pompe Disease: A Review of the Current Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendations in the Era of Enzyme Replacement Therapy
Authors: Katzin Lara W , Amato Anthony A 
Published: May 2008

Abstract

Pompe disease, or glycogen storage disease type II, is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the gene that encodes for α-glucosidase. Presentation in infancy is associated with respiratory failure, cardiomyopathy, and severe muscle weakness. Juvenile- or adult-onset cases typically present with proximal muscle weakness and are associated with respiratory insufficiency or exertional dyspnea. Treatment, until recently, was focused on supportive measures, and infants diagnosed with Pompe disease usually died within the first year of life. The recent development of recombinant α-glucosidase has dramatically improved the life expectancy and quality of life of infantile-onset disease with improvements in respiratory and motor function observed in juvenile- or adult-onset cases. This review focuses on the presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations for Pompe disease in this new era of enzyme replacement therapy.
What's in the Literature?
Authors: Simmons Zachary 
Published: May 2008

Abstract

Because our readership is varied, I have tried to choose articles that span the broad scope of neuromuscular diseases, including disorders of the motor neuron, peripheral nerve, neuromuscular junction, and muscle. Of course there are many more articles published during a 3-month period of time than can be reviewed in this space, but I found the ones below particularly interesting and hope you will too.
Early events in protein folding: Is there something more than hydrophobic burst?
Authors: Camilloni Carlo , Sutto Ludovico , Provasi Davide , Tiana Guido , Broglia Ricardo A. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe presence of native contacts in the denatured state of many proteins suggests that elements of the biologically active structure of these molecules are formed during the initial stage of the folding process. The rapidity with which these events take place makes it difficult to study them in vitro, but, by the same token, suitable for studies in silico. With the help of all‐atom, explicit solvent, molecular dynamics simulations we have followed in time, starting from elongated structureless conformations, the early events in the folding of src‐SH3 domain and of proteins G, L, and CI2. It is observed that within the first 50 ns two important events take place, essentially independent of each other: hydrophobic collapse and formation of a few selected native contacts. The same contacts are also found in simulations carried out in the presence of guanidinium chloride in order to reproduce the conditions used to characterize experimentally the denatured state and testify to the fact that these contacts are to be considered a resilient characterizing property of the denaturated state.
Characterization of a 320‐kb region containing the HEXA gene on bovine chromosome 10 and analysis of its association with BSE susceptibility
Authors: Juling K. , Schwarzenbacher H. , Frankenberg U. , Ziegler U. , Groschup M. , Williams J. L. , Fries R. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryBovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) belongs to a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible prion diseases. Recently, variants in the promoter region of the prion protein (PRNP) gene have been shown to have a considerable effect on the susceptibility to BSE. However, a previous genome scan revealed other putative BSE‐susceptibility loci. Here, we analysed such a region on BTA10, which contains the functional candidate gene HEXA. Three hundred and twenty kilobases that, besides HEXA, also contain ARIH1, BRUNOL6 and PARP6 were characterized and screened for polymorphisms. Genotyping of 38 SNPs in Holstein–Friesian animals from the UK (350 diseased and 270 controls) revealed two intronic SNPs that were associated with BSE incidence, with experiment‐wise P‐values of 3.5 × 10−3 and 7.7 × 10−3 respectively. Both SNPs were in strong linkage disequilibrium and the rare alleles had a protective effect. These alleles were contained in a haplotype dubbed ‘UK‐protective’ that was significantly overrepresented in the controls with a permuted P‐value of 2 × 10−3. An association study in German Holstein animals (73 diseased and 627 controls) revealed an opposite effect of the ‘UK‐protective’ haplotype in this population, i.e. it was overrepresented in the diseased animals, although not significant after correction for multiple testing. These findings indicate a causal variant for BSE susceptibility on BTA10 in linkage disequilibrium with the markers studied. Candidate gene analyses of the surrounding region and additional association studies will help to clarify the origin of the protective effects and to identify causal variants for BSE susceptibility on BTA10.
hScrib, a human homologue of Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor, is a novel death substrate targeted by caspase during the process of apoptosis
Authors: Sone Kenbun , Nakagawa Shunsuke , Nakagawa Keiichi , Takizawa Shin , Matsumoto Yoko , Nagasaka Kazunori , Tsuruga Tetsushi , Hiraike Haruko , Hiraike‐Wada Osamu , Miyamoto Yuichiro , Oda Katsutoshi , Yasugi Toshiharu , Kugu Koji , Yano Tetsu , Taketani Yuji 
Published: May 2008

hScrib, human homologue of Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor, was identified as a target of human papillomavirus E6 oncoprotein for the ubiquitin‐mediated degradation. Here, we report that hScrib is a novel death substrate targeted by caspase. Full‐length hScrib was cleaved by caspase during death ligands‐induced apoptosis, which generates a p170 C‐terminal fragments in Hela cells. In vitro cleavage assay using recombinant caspases showed that hScrib is cleaved by the executioner caspases. DNA damage‐induced apoptosis caused loss of expression of full‐length hScrib, which was recovered by addition of capase‐3 inhibitor in HaCat cells. TUNEL positive apoptotic cells, which were identified 4 h after UV irradiation in HaCat cells, showed loss of hScrib expression at the adherens junction. Mutational analysis identified the caspase‐dependent cleavage site of hScrib at the position of Asp‐504. Although MDCK cells transfected with GFP‐fused wild‐type hScrib showed loss of E‐cadherin expression and shrinkage of cytoplasm by UV irradiation, cells transfected with hScrib with Ala substitution of Asp‐504 showed resistance to caspase‐dependent cleavage of hScrib and intact expression of E‐cadherin. These results indicate that caspase‐dependent cleavage of hScrib is a critical step for detachment of cell contact during the process of apoptosis.
Patterns in vegetation and sedimentation during the Weichselian Late‐glacial in north‐eastern Germany
Authors: De Klerk Pim 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAim  To identify and interpret spatial patterns of vegetation and sedimentation during the Weichselian Late‐glacial.Location  North‐eastern Germany and the adjacent fringe of north‐western Poland.Methods  An inspection and comparison of palynological data from c. 150 sites.Results  Open Vegetation phase I (Oldest Dryas = earlier part of the Meiendorf, 12,900–12,450 14C bp) and the Hippophaë phase (Bølling = later part of the Meiendorf; 12,450–12,000 bp) were rather homogeneous palynologically in the study area. Open Vegetation phase II (Older Dryas; 12,000–11,900 bp) is strongly recorded in the northern part of the study area with relatively thick sediments (suggesting severe soil erosion), but it can hardly be traced 200 km further to the south. This is attributed to sea buckthorn (Hippophaë) shrubs persisting longer in the south due to higher temperatures, to Betula forests expanding earlier under the influence of a more humid climate or to a generally denser vegetation independent of the behaviour of Hippophaë and Betula. During the late‐glacial Betula/Pinus forest phase (Allerød; 11,900–11,000 bp), pine (Pinus) forests dominated in the southern regions, whereas birch (Betula) forests prevailed in the north. Open Vegetation phase III (Younger Dryas; 11,000–10,000 bp) was characterized by heathlands in the northern regions with scattered birches and with sedimentation dominated by in‐washed silicates. In the south, pine parklands occurred with sedimentation dominated by local primary production which had markedly decreased after the previous warmer vegetation phase.Main conclusions  The differences in vegetation and sedimentation during the open vegetation phases are attributed to a colder climate in the north than in the south, probably related to a climatic gradient between the ice‐free continental central Europe and the decaying Scandinavian ice sheet. The vegetation patterns during the late‐glacial Betula/Pinus forest phase are attributed to edaphic differences between the predominantly till plains in the northern part of the study area and the prevailing sandy outwash plains and Urstromtäler of the southern regions.
A pilot study:sodium urate synovitis as an acute model of inflammatory response using objective and subjective criteria to evaluate arthritic pain in cats
Authors: CARROLL G. L. , NARBE R. , PETERSON K. , KERWIN S. C. , TAYLOR L. , DeBOER M. 
Published: May 2008

Sodium urate (SU) synovitis was evaluated as a model for feline arthritic pain using a placebo‐ and positive‐controlled (meloxicam) randomized blinded controlled single crossover design. Monosodium urate crystals [20 mg (1 mL) rod‐shaped] were injected into alternate stifles of trained anesthetized cats (n = 3) with a 28 day washout.During the first trial phase, two cats received meloxicam (0.1 mg/kg, PO), a nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug (NSAID), for three days before and on the day of SU injection; the third cat received placebo. Treatments and stifles were switched for the second trial. Total force, contact pressure and area of the fore and hind limbs were measured using a pressure mat one day and 0.5 h before, and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, and 30 h post‐SU injection. Skin temperature, joint circumference, analgesia, lameness, and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores, were measured at the same times. Comparisons were made for each time and for areas under the curve (AUC) using original and change from baseline;P < 0.05 was significant. Significant differences in force mat data and subjective data were found for the hind limb data (total force and total contact pressure at 6, 10, and 30 h; analgesia and VAS for pain at 4 h; lameness at 10, 24, and 30 h) and for AUC0→24hand AUC0→30h(total force, total contact pressure, and mean lameness score) and for differences from BL AUC0→10h(total contact area) and AUC0→24h(total contact area and mean lameness score) and AUC0→30h(total force, total contact area, and mean lameness). No cats required rescue analgesia.Injection of 1 mL of monosodium urate into the stifle of a cat causes moderate transitory pain and was suitable for assessing analgesic efficacy of an NSAID with a pressure mat and subjective criteria.
Differentiation of morphology, genetics and electric signals in a region of sympatry between sister species of African electric fish (Mormyridae)
Authors: LAVOUÉ S. , SULLIVAN J. P. , ARNEGARD M. E. , HOPKINS C. D. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractMormyrid fishes produce and sense weak electric organ discharges (EODs) for object detection and communication, and they have been increasingly recognized as useful model organisms for studying signal evolution and speciation. EOD waveform variation can provide important clues to sympatric species boundaries between otherwise similar or morphologically cryptic forms. Endemic to the watersheds of Gabon (Central Africa), Ivindomyrus marchei and Ivindomyrus opdenboschi are morphologically similar to one another. Using morphometric, electrophysiological and molecular characters [cytochrome b sequences and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) genotypes], we investigated to what extent these nominal mormyrid species have diverged into biological species. Our sampling covered the known distribution of each species with a focus on the Ivindo River, where the two taxa co‐occur. An overall pattern of congruence among datasets suggests that I. opdenboschi and I. marchei are mostly distinct. Electric signal analysis showed that EODs of I. opdenboschi tend to have a smaller initial head‐positive peak than those of I. marchei, and they often possess a small third waveform peak that is typically absent in EODs of I. marchei. Analysis of sympatric I. opdenboschi and I. marchei populations revealed slight, but significant, genetic partitioning between populations based on AFLP data (FST ≈ 0.04). Taken separately, however, none of the characters we evaluated allowed us to discriminate two completely distinct or monophyletic groups. Lack of robust separation on the basis of any single character set may be a consequence of incomplete lineage sorting due to recent ancestry and/or introgressive hybridization. Incongruence between genetic datasets in one individual, which exhibited a mitochondrial haplotype characteristic of I. marchei but nevertheless fell within a genetic cluster of I. opdenboschi based on AFLP genotypes, suggests that a low level of recent hybridization may also be contributing to patterns of character variation in sympatry. Nevertheless, despite less than perfect separability based on any one dataset and inconclusive evidence for complete reproductive isolation between them in the Ivindo River, we find sufficient evidence to support the existence of two distinctive species, I. opdenboschi and I. marchei, even if not ‘biological species’ in the Mayrian sense.
Expression of Oestrogen Receptor α During Development of the Skeleton in Mice Fetuses: Immunohistochemical Study
Authors: Barle E. Lovsin , Pogacnik A. , Zabavnik J. 
Published: May 2008

SummarySequential pattern of ossification and expression of oestrogen receptor α (ERα) during development of the skeleton in male and female mice fetuses was investigated. Twenty‐seven mice fetuses of gestational age between 14.5 and 18.5 days post coitum (p.c.) were examined by haematoxylin–eosin and toluidine blue staining to determine the ossification. The presence of ERα was detected by immunostaining using ERα‐specific antibodies. Ossification centres were determined in fetuses of 14.5 days p.c. of both sexes in the base of skull, ribs and front limbs, while in the mandible ossification was observed only in female fetuses at that age. ERα was found in all investigated tissues in which the occurrence of ossification centres was determined. ERα was first detected in some tissues involved in ossification at 14.5 days p.c. in fetuses of both genders. There were some minor gender differences in the pattern of ERα expression. ERα was localized in the metatarsal chondrogenic condensations at 14.5 days p.c. and in phalangeal chondrocytes at 17.5 and 18.5 days p.c. only in females. ERα‐positive osteogenic cells at 14.5 days p.c. in the mandible were seen only in females. At 16.5 days p.c. male but not female fetuses expressed ERα in the vertebrae. Our findings support the view that ERα protein is found in the tissues that undergo bone formation and that ERα expression in these tissues shows only minor gender differences in mice fetuses.
Quantitative Assessment of Renal Cortical Echogenicity in Clinically Normal Cats
Authors: Yabuki A. , Endo Y. , Sakamoto H. , Nagayoshi T. , Matsumoto M. , Suzuki S. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryIn this study, we assessed the renal cortical echogenicity of clinically normal adult cats by histogram analysis to obtain basic ultrasonographic data. Ultrasound images were taken under the following sets of conditions: (1) high contrast and low gain setting using a convex probe, (2) low contrast and high gain setting using a convex probe, (3) high contrast and low gain setting using a linear probe and (4) low contrast and high gain setting using a linear probe. Echogenicity of the region of interest (ROI) in the right and left renal cortices, liver and spleen was determined by histogram analysis; kidney/spleen (Kid/Sp) and kidney/liver (Kid/Liv) echogenicity ratios were calculated. Kid/Sp and Kid/Liv values varied among different ROI sites in the kidney when obtained using the convex probe, but were constant when obtained using the linear probe. Kid/Sp measured in the middle sites of the kidney showed similar values for the different settings; however, Kid/Liv differed between probes. The present findings suggest that determination of Kid/Sp using a linear probe is a feasible method for quantitative evaluation of renal cortical echogenicity in cats.