bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ethanol, Saccharin, and Quinine: Early Ontogeny of Taste Responsiveness and Intake
Authors: Kozlov Andrey P. , Varlinskaya Elena I. , Spear Norman E. 
Published: September 2008

Background:  Rat pups demonstrate high levels of immediate acceptance of ethanol during the first 2 weeks of postnatal life. Given that the taste of ethanol is most likely perceived by infant rats as a combination of sweet and bitter, high intake of ethanol early in ontogeny may be associated with age‐related enhanced responsiveness to the sweet component of ethanol taste, as well as with ontogenetic decreases in sensitivity to its bitter component. Therefore, the present study compared responsiveness to ethanol and solutions with bitter (quinine) and sweet (saccharin) taste in terms of intake and palatability across the first 2 weeks of postnatal life.Methods:  Characteristic patterns of responsiveness to 10% (v/v) ethanol, 0.1% saccharin, 0.2% quinine, and water in terms of taste reactivity and fluid intake were assessed in rat pups tested on postnatal day (P) 4, 9, or 12 using a new technique of on‐line monitoring of fluid flow through a two‐channel intraoral cannula. Taste reactivity included analysis of ingestive and aversive responses following six intraoral infusions of the test fluids. This taste reactivity probe was followed by the intake test, in which animals were allowed to voluntarily ingest fluids from an intraoral cannula.Results:  Pups of all ages showed more appetitive responses to saccharin and ethanol than to water or quinine. No age‐related differences were apparent in taste responsiveness to saccharin and ethanol. However, the age‐related pattern of ethanol intake drastically differed from that of saccharin. Intake of saccharin increased from P4 to P9 and decreased substantially by P12, whereas intake of ethanol gradually increased from P4 to P12. Intake of ethanol was significantly lower than intake of saccharin on P9, whereas P12 pups took in more ethanol than saccharin.Conclusion:  The findings of the present study indicate ontogenetic dissociations between taste reactivity to ethanol and saccharin and intake of these solutions, and suggest that high acceptance of ethanol early in ontogeny may not be associated with its orosensory properties but rather with the pharmacological effects of ethanol.
Impaired Eyeblink Conditioning in Children With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Authors: Jacobson Sandra W. , Stanton Mark E. , Molteno Christopher D. , Burden Matthew J. , Fuller Douglas S. , Hoyme H. Eugene , Robinson Luther K. , Khaole Nathaniel , Jacobson Joseph L. 
Published: September 2008

Background:  Eyeblink conditioning (EBC) is a Pavlovian paradigm that involves contingent temporal pairing of a conditioned stimulus (e.g., tone) with an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., air puff). Animal studies have shown that binge consumption of alcohol during pregnancy impairs EBC and that this impairment is likely mediated by a loss of neurons in the inferior olive and the cerebellar cortex and deep nuclei, as well as by a reduction in neural plasticity in the cerebellar deep nuclei.Methods:  Short delay EBC was examined in 98 5‐year‐old children born to women from the Coloured (mixed ancestry) community in Cape Town, South Africa, who were recruited prenatally and are participating in the first prospective longitudinal study of children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS status was assessed at 5 years by expert dysmorphologists. Two sessions of 50 trials each were administered to the children; a third session was administered the following day to those children who did not meet criterion of 40% conditioned responses in session 2.Results:  Not a single child with FAS met criterion for conditioning as contrasted with 75.0% of the controls. Whereas 86.7% of the controls who were conditioned met criterion by the end of Session 2, a large proportion of the relatively few alcohol‐exposed nonsyndromal children who conditioned did not do so until Session 3. These alcohol effects on EBC persisted after controlling for IQ. Three of 4 microcephalic children who were not exposed to alcohol were successfully conditioned.Conclusions:  This is the first prospective study to demonstrate impaired EBC in children diagnosed with FAS. Successful EBC in a microcephalic group supports the inference that the EBC deficit is specific to prenatal alcohol exposure and a potential biomarker for diagnosis of exposed children lacking the distinctive FAS dysmorphology. Delay EBC has a high sensitivity for identifying individuals with a diagnosis of probable FAS.
Verifying an F1 screen for identification and quantification of rare Bacillus thuringiensis resistance alleles in field populations of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis
Authors: Yue Bisong , Huang Fangneng , Leonard B. Rogers , Moore Steven , Parker Roy , Andow David A. , Cook Don , Emfinger Karla , Lee Donna R. 
Published: September 2008

AbstractUsing an F1 screen, 352 feral individuals of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), were examined for the presence of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)‐resistance alleles. These insects represented four geographical populations collected in central and northeastern Louisiana, USA, and one field population from the Gulf Coast area of Texas, USA, during 2006. The F1 screen used various crosses between field‐collected insects and a laboratory strain of Cry1Ab‐resistant D. saccharalis, including both reciprocal crosses and group mating. F1 neonates of the crosses were screened for Bt resistance on Bt maize leaf tissue. One field‐collected individual of D. saccharalis was shown to have a Bt‐resistance allele. Based on Bayesian analysis procedures, the Bt‐resistance allele frequency in the five populations of D. saccharalis was 0.0028 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.0003–0.0079. The successful identification of a resistance allele in a field collection of insects suggests that the F1 screening technique could be an effective tool for detecting and monitoring rare Bt‐resistance alleles in field populations of D. saccharalis.
Quantitative assessment of WT1 gene expression after allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a useful tool for monitoring minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Candoni Anna , Tiribelli Mario , Toffoletti Eleonora , Cilloni Daniela , Chiarvesio Alexia , Michelutti Angela , Simeone Erica , Pipan Corrado , Saglio Giuseppe , Fanin Renato 
Published: September 2008

AbstractIntroduction:  WT1 overexpression is described in several oncological diseases including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Quantification of WT1 in bone marrow samples may be useful as a marker of minimal residual disease (MRD) and may predict the relapse of AML after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).Methods and results:  The quantitative expression of WT1 was measured in 38 AML patients (16 males and 22 females) at diagnosis, at the time of transplant and after the allogeneic HSCT (at precise time points). All cases showed high WT1 expression levels at diagnosis with a mean of 4189 (SD 3325) and a median of 3495 (range 454–13923) copies WT1/104Abl. At transplant, 25 patients (66%) were in complete cytologic remission (CcR) and 13 (34%) had refractory or relapsed AML. Bone marrow samples from patients transplanted in CcR showed significantly lower WT1 expression levels during HSCT compared with the samples from patients with a relapsed or refractory AML (P = 0.004). After HSCT, a rapid decline in WT1 expression levels was observed in all patients who attained or maintained a condition of CcR. Six of 38 patients (13%) relapsed after HSCT and all of them had an increase in WT1 expression at/or before relapse. Five of these six patients died of leukemia and one was successfully reinduced with donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) + chemotherapy with a rapid reduction of WT1 levels. Besides, we found a complete concordance between WT1 expression levels and other disease markers (when available).Conclusions:  In our experience, there was a complete concordance between WT1 expression levels (measured by quantitative RT‐PCR at precise time points) and status of AML before and after allogeneic HSCT. WT1 may be useful as a non‐specific leukemia marker for monitoring MRD and as a predictor of AML clinical relapse. Based on these results, cases with increase of WT1 levels after HSCT and without graft vs. host disease may be candidate to discontinuation of immunosuppression and/or DLI therapy.
Poor correlations between measurements of bone quality by quantitative ultrasound sonography and dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry in patients with β‐thalassaemia major
Authors: Christoforidis Athanasios , Perifanis Vassilios , Papadopoulou Eleni , Dimitriadou Meropi , Kazantzidou Eirini , Vlachaki Efthimia , Tsatra Ioanna 
Published: September 2008

AbstractObjectives:  Osteopenia/osteoporosis is a major component of morbidity even in young patients with β‐thalassaemia major. Dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the reference method for determining bone mineral density (BMD). Quantitative ultrasound sonography (QUS) for bone measurement is a relatively new, inexpensive and radiation‐free method that could serve as an alternative to DXA. Our aim was to assess bone status in thalassaemic patients both with QUS and DXA and, consequently, to investigate the degree of correlation between the two methods.Methods:  Thirty‐three patients (15 male and 18 female) with β‐thalassaemia major, regularly transfused and systematically iron‐chelated, participated in the study. Mean age was 22.0 ± 8.0 yr (range: 6.5–41.0 yr). All patients were evaluated with QUS at radius and tibia and had DXA scan at lumbar spine vertebrae (L2–L4), whereas 20 patients were additionally assessed with DXA at the left hip (femoral neck, trochanter region and Ward’s triangle).Results:  Results were expressed as Z‐scores compared with sex‐ and age‐matched population. Lowest mean Z‐scores measured with DXA were recorded at lumbar spine and Ward’s triangle (−1.1 ± 1.13 and −0.95 ± 1.07, respectively). Lowest mean QUS‐derived Z‐scores were measured at radius, statistically significant compared with Z‐scores measured at tibia (−0.6 ± 1.1 vs. 0.4 ± 1.1, P < 0.001). QUS measurements at radius were significantly correlated to QUS measurements at tibia (r = 0.51, P = 0.002). The latter were correlated to BMD measured at lumbar spine (r = 0.516, P = 0.002) and at trochanter region (r = 0.646, P = 0.003). All BMD measurements at hip were significantly correlated to each other. Lumbar spine BMD was correlated to BMD at femoral neck (r = 0.607, P = 0.003) and to BMD at Ward’s triangle (r = 0.438, P = 0.027). Finally, no agreement was recorded between the two methods in identifying thalassaemic patients at risk for osteoporosis (κ = 0.203, P = 0.04).Conclusion:  Quantitative ultrasound sonography could not serve as an alternate to DXA.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Poly‐Immunoglobulin Receptor‐Mediated Transport of IgA into the Male Genital Tract is Important for Clearance of Chlamydia muridarum Infection
Authors: Cunningham Kelly A. , Carey Alison J. , Finnie Jane M. , Bao Shisan , Coon Charmere , Jones Russell , Wijburg Odilia , Strugnell Richard A. , Timms Peter , Beagley Kenneth W. 
Published: September 2008

Problem  Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. While infection in females requires a Th1 response for clearance, such a response in males may disrupt the immune privileged nature of the male reproductive tract, potentially contributing to infertility.Method of study  We investigated the role of IgA in protection against an intrapenile Chlamydia muridarum infection of C57BL/6 and pIgR−/− mice.Results  Here, we show that the poly immunoglobulin receptor is the main pathway for IgA transport into the male reproductive tract. The high levels of IgA seen in prostatic fluid of wild‐type mice correlate with reduction in chlamydial infection both in vitro and in vivo.Conclusion  These findings indicate that a Chlamydia vaccine that induces neutralizing IgA in the prostate will aid in the protection against infection in males.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Comparison of Thrombophilic Gene Mutations Among Patients Experiencing Recurrent Miscarriage and Deep Vein Thrombosis
Authors: Coulam Carolyn B. , Wallis Diane , Weinstein Jordan , DasGupta Dipankar S. , Jeyendran Rajasingam S. 
Published: September 2008

Problem  Inherited thrombophilia has been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease including deep venous thrombosis as well as reproductive disorders including recurrent pregnancy loss. We have previously reported three out of the 10 thrombophilic mutations studied, plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) 4G/5G, factor XIII V34L, and homozygous MTHFR C667T, correlated significantly with recurrent pregnancy loss compared with controls. This study was undertaken to compare the frequencies of nine inherited thrombophilias among women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss with individuals experiencing deep venous thrombosis and fertile controls.Method of study  Six hundred thirty‐four participants including 550 women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss, 43 individuals with deep vein thrombosis and 41 fertile women without a history of recurrent miscarriage. All participants had buccal swabs taken for DNA analyses of nine gene polymorphisms including factor V G1691A, factor V H1299R (R2), factor II Prothrombin G20210A, factor XIII V34L, β‐fibrinogen −455G>A, PAI‐1 4G/5G, human platelet antigen 1 a/b (L33P), MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C. Frequencies of thrombophilic gene polymorphisms were compared among the three populations studied.Results  Individuals with a history of DVT had a significantly higher frequency of all of the polymorphisms studied compared with women experiencing a history of recurrent pregnancy loss and the fertile controls. The frequencies of mutations for V34L and PAI‐1 4G/5G were significantly increased among women experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss compared with controls. The most prevalent polymorphisms were factor XIII V34L and PAI‐1 4G/4G for both individuals with a history of deep vein thrombosis and recurrent pregnancy loss compared with controls.Conclusion  Screening for risk factors for inherited thrombophilia with only polymorphisms for factor V von Leiden, factor II prothrombin and MTHFR may be missing the more prevalent identifiers of jeopardy.
Microgravity and the implications for wound healing
Authors: Farahani Ramin Mostofizadeh , DiPietro Luisa A 
Published: September 2008

AbstractWound healing is a sophisticated response ubiquitous to various traumatic stimuli leading to an anatomical/functional disruption. The aim of present article was to review the current evidence regarding the effects of microgravity on wound healing dynamics. Modulation of haemostatic phase because of alteration of platelet quantity and function seems probable. Furthermore, production of growth factors that are released from activated platelets and infiltration/function of inflammatory cells seem to be impaired by microgravity. Proliferation of damaged structures is dependent on orchestrated function of various growth factors, for example transforming growth factors, platelet‐derived growth factor and epidermal growth factor, all of which are affected by microgravitational status. Moreover, gravity‐induced alterations of gap junction, neural inputs, and cell populations have been reported. It may be concluded that different cellular and extracellular element involved in the healing response are modified through effect of microgravity which may lead to impairment in healing dynamics.
Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Aluminum Toxin Tolerance in NJRIKY Recombinant Inbred Line Population of Soybean (Glycine max)
Authors: Qi Bo , Korir Paul , Zhao Tuanjie , Yu Deyue , Chen Shouyi , Gai Junyi 
Published: September 2008

Abstract To investigate the genetic mechanism of Al‐tolerance in soybean, a recombinant inbred line population (RIL) with 184 F2:7:11 lines derived from the cross of Kefeng No.1 × Nannong 1138‐2 (Al‐tolerant × Al‐sensitive) were tested in pot experiment with sand culture medium in net room in Nanjing. Four traits, i.e. plant height, number of leaves, shoot dry weight and root dry weight at seedling stage, were evaluated and used to calculate the average membership index (FAi) as the indicator of Al‐tolerance. The composite interval mapping (CIM) under WinQTL Cartographer v. 2.5 detected five QTLs (i.e. qFAi‐1, qFAi‐2, qFAi‐3, qFAi‐4 and qFAi‐5), explaining 5.20%–9.07% of the total phenotypic variation individually. While with the multiple interval mapping (MIM) of the same software, five QTLs (qFAi‐1, qFAi‐5, qFAi‐6, qFAi‐7, and qFAi‐8) explaining 5.7%–24.60% of the total phenotypic variation individually were mapped. Here qFAi‐1 and qFAi‐5 were detected by both CIM and MIM with the locations in a same flanking marker region, GMKF046‐GMKF080 on B1 and satt278‐sat_95 on L, respectively. While qFAi‐2 under CIM and qFAi‐6 under MIM both on D1b2 were located in neighboring regions with their confidence intervals overlapped and might be the same locus. Segregation analysis under major gene plus polygene inheritance model showed that Al‐tolerance was controlled by two major genes (h2mg = 33.05%) plus polygenes (h2pg = 52.73%). Both QTL mapping and segregation analysis confirmed two QTLs responsible for Al‐tolerance with relatively low heritability, and there might be a third QTL, confounded with the polygenes in segregation analysis.
Effect of Salicylic Acid on Salinity‐induced Changes in Brassica juncea
Authors: Yusuf Mohammad , Hasan Syed Aiman , Ali Barket , Hayat Shamsul , Fariduddin Qazi , Ahmad Aqil 
Published: September 2008

Abstract Seeds of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. et Coss.) were exposed to 0, 50, 100 and 150 mmol/L NaCl for 8 h and seeds were sown in an earthen pot. These stressed seedlings were subsequently sprayed with 10 μmol/L salicylic acid (SA) at 30 d and were sampled at 60 d to assess the changes in growth, photosynthesis and antioxidant enzymes. The seedlings raised from the seeds treated with NaCl had significantly reduced growth and the activities of carbonic anhydrase, nitrate reductase and photosynthesis, and the decrease was proportional to the increase in NaCl concentration. However, the antioxidant enzymes (catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) and proline content was enhanced in response to NaCl and/or SA treatment, where their interaction had an additive effect. Moreover, the toxic effects generated by the lower concentration of NaCl (50 mmol/L) were completely overcome by the application of SA. It was, therefore, concluded that SA ameliorated the stress generated by NaCl through the alleviated antioxidant system.
Arabidopsis Indole Synthase, a Homolog of Tryptophan Synthase Alpha, is an Enzyme Involved in the Trp‐independent Indole‐containing Metabolite Biosynthesis
Authors: Zhang Rui , Wang Bing , Ouyang Jian , Li Jiayang , Wang Yonghong 
Published: September 2008

Abstract The plant tryptophan (Trp) biosynthetic pathway produces many secondary metabolites with diverse functions. Indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA), proposed as a derivative from Trp or its precursors, plays an essential role in plant growth and development. Although the Trp‐dependant and Trp‐independent IAA biosynthetic pathways have been proposed, the enzymes, reactions and regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. In Arabidopsis, indole‐3‐glycerol phosphate (IGP) is suggested to serve as a branchpoint component in the Trp‐independent IAA biosynthesis. To address whether other enzymes in addition to Trp synthase α (TSA1) catalyze IGP cleavage, we identified and characterized an indole synthase (INS) gene, a homolog of TSA1 in Arabidopsis. INS exhibits different subcellular localization from TSA1 owing to the lack of chloroplast transit peptide (cTP). In silico data show that the expression levels of INS and TSA1 in all examined organs are quite different. Histochemical staining of INS promoter‐GUS transgenic lines indicates that INS is expressed in vascular tissue of cotyledons, hypocotyls, roots and rosette leaves as well as in flowers and siliques. INS is capable of complementing the Trp auxotrophy of Escherichia coliΔtrpA strain, which is defective in Trp synthesis due to the deletion of TSA. This implies that INS catalyzes the conversion of IGP to indole and may be involved in the biosynthesis of Trp‐independent IAA or other secondary metabolites in Arabidopsis.
Invisible Americans: Migration, Transnationalism, and the Politics of Difference in HIV/AIDS Research
Authors: Sangaramoorthy Thurka 
Published: September 2008

AbstractUsing the scholarship on transnationalism and citizenship, this paper examines the politics of difference in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in the United States and their impact on Haitian migrants and immigrants. It finds that there is a tremendous amount of complex movement of knowledge production and expertise among various constituents who work in the field of HIV/AIDS, and these individuals circulate ideas and technologies of HIV/AIDS across different fields in multiple ways. Through these circulations, information about HIV/AIDS becomes entangled in the debates about relevant knowledge bases, and as a result, questions over culture and modernity. This paper traces how such discourses become framed under the rubric of risk and difference and operate at the level of situated experience. Through ethnographic fieldwork observations and interviews, this paper argues that notions of individual responsibility in HIV/AIDS risk management often become inseparable from notions of racial, ethnic and immigrant identity.
Contesting Ethnicity: Emerging Regional Identity in Vojvodina
Authors: Dragojević Mila 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThis case study of the northern Serbian Province of Vojvodina explores the basis of regional shared group understandings in the absence of ethnic difference between the majority in the region and the center. It addresses the question of whether there is an emerging regional identity in Vojvodina within the political elite discourse at the time of the passage of the Omnibus Law in 2002, which devolved part of autonomy that the Province had lost following the 1991 Constitution. The method of content analysis was employed to uncover the collective sense of social purpose (i.e. desire for greater autonomy) and the shared views toward groups perceived as ‘others’. The findings show that the principal supporters of autonomy are the center‐based civic‐oriented parties, as well as the regional parties. On the other hand, the opposition to autonomy comes from the center‐based nationalist parties.