bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Association between the FTO Gene and Fat Mass in Humans Develops by the Postnatal Age of Two Weeks
Authors: López-Bermejo Abel , Petry Clive J. , Díaz Marta , Sebastiani Giorgia , de Zegher Francis , Dunger David B. , Ibáñez Lourdes 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Objective: Little is known about the genetic determinants of fat mass around birth. We hypothesized that the common rs9939609 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in FTO is associated with fat mass and metabolic parameters in neonates.
Design: We conducted a cross-sectional, hospital-based study.
Patients: Patients included 234 full-term, healthy newborns [122 girls and 112 boys; gestational age (mean, range), 39.0 (37.0–42.0) wk; birth weight, 3.2 (1.9–4.2) kg].
Methods: Cord-blood insulin, IGF-I, IGF-binding protein-1, adiponectin, and visfatin were measured by specific immunoassays. Body composition was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at about 13 d (range, 9–20 d). Genotyping of rs9939609 was achieved by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.
Results: The rs9939609 SNP in FTO was not associated with birth weight; however, it was associated with serum visfatin (P &lt; 0.001), with weight and ponderal index at age 2 wk (P &lt; 0.05), and with total, truncal, and abdominal fat (P &lt; 0.05 to P = 0.01), so that AA homozygotes had 37% higher plasma visfatin concentration and 17, 20, and 17% higher total, truncal, and abdominal fat mass, respectively, than T-carrier neonates.
Conclusion: Our findings support a role of the common rs9939609 SNP in FTO gene in the early stages of fat accretion in humans and disclose novel associations between this SNP and both serum visfatin and abdominal fat mass in neonates.
Androgen Receptor Gene CAG Repeat Polymorphism and X-Chromosome Inactivation in Children with Premature Adrenarche
Authors: Lappalainen Saila , Utriainen Pauliina , Kuulasmaa Tiina , Voutilainen Raimo , Jääskeläinen Jarmo 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Context: There is variation in the adrenal androgen levels and clinical findings of children with premature adrenarche (PA).
Objectives: We hypothesized that androgen sensitivity, indicated by the length of CAG repeat in the X-chromosomal androgen receptor (AR) gene has a role in the polygenic pathogenesis of PA.
Design and Patients: We performed a cross-sectional association study among 73 Finnish Caucasian children with PA (10 boys and 63 girls) and 97 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (18 boys and 79 girls).
Main Outcome Measures: AR gene methylation-weighted CAGn(mwCAGn) via CAGn length and X-chromosome inactivation analysis and clinical phenotype were determined.
Setting: The study took place at a university hospital.
Results: PA subjects had significantly shorter mwCAGn than controls [mean difference (95% confidence interval); 0.76 (0.14–1.38); P = 0.017]. AR gene mwCAGn did not correlate with androgen or SHBG levels in either group. In children with PA, mwCAGn correlated positively with body mass index (BMI) (τ = 0.19; P = 0.02). The mean of mwCAGn was significantly shorter in PA children with lower BMI compared with PA children with higher BMI [BMI sd score &lt; 0.79, n = 35, vs. BMI sd score &gt; 0.79, n = 36; 1.13 (0.38–1.87), P = 0.004] and in PA children with lower BMI compared with healthy children with same BMI (P = 0.004).
Conclusions: The AR gene CAGn polymorphism may have a significant role in the pathogenesis of PA, especially in lean children.
Radiological landmarks for placement of the tunnels in single-bundle reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament
Authors: Pinczewski L. A. , Salmon L. J. , Jackson W. F. M. , von Bormann R. B. P. , Haslam P. G. , Tashiro S. 
Published: February 2008

There is little evidence examining the relationship between anatomical landmarks, radiological placement of the tunnels and long-term clinical outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of intra-operative landmarks for placement of the tunnels in single-bundle reconstruction of the ACL using four-strand hamstring tendon autografts. Isolated reconstruction of the ACL was performed in 200 patients, who were followed prospectively for seven years with use of the International Knee Documentation Committee forms and radiographs. Taking 0% as the anterior and 100% as the posterior extent, the femoral tunnel was a mean of 86% (sd 5) along Blumensaat’s line and the tibial tunnel was 48% (sd 5) along the tibial plateau. Taking 0% as the medial and 100% as the lateral extent, the tibial tunnel was 46% (sd 3) across the tibial plateau and the mean inclination of the graft in the coronal plane was 19° (sd 5.5). The use of intra-operative landmarks resulted in reproducible placement of the tunnels and an excellent clinical outcome seven years after operation. Vertical inclination was associated with increased rotational instability and degenerative radiological changes, while rupture of the graft was associated with posterior placement of the tibial tunnel. If the osseous tunnels are correctly placed, single-bundle reconstruction of the ACL adequately controls both anteroposterior and rotational instability.
Ezetimibe-Associated Immune Thrombocytopenia
Authors: Pattis Peter , Wiedermann Christian J 
Published: February 2008

Objective: To describe a case of immune thrombocytopenia associated with treatment with ezetimibe, a cholesterol absorption inhibitor. Case Summary: A 72-year-old man presented with severe thrombocytopenia (platelets 3 × 103/μL) and “wet purpura” 4 weeks after being started on daily therapy using a combination of ezetimibe 10 mg/simvastatin 20 mg. Platelet counts normalized after administration of ezetimibe/ simvastatin was stopped. Nine months later, the patient was restarted on simvastatin because of uncorrected dyslipidemia. Platelet counts remained within the normal range following that rechallenge. Discussion: Registry data revealed the possibility of ezetimibe-induced thrombocytopenia, but, as of December 3, 2007, no other case reports on this interaction had been published. This case illustrates the probable occurrence of ezetimibe-induced thrombocytopenia. Platelet counts dropped significantly when ezetimibe therapy was initiated, then resolved upon discontinuation of therapy. Other causes of thrombocytopenia were ruled out, and rechallenge with simvastatin further supports the presence of a causal relationship between thrombocytopenia and ezetimibe. Use of the Naranjo probability scale indicated a probable relationship between thrombocytopenia and ezetimibe therapy. An adverse reaction scale specific for evaluation of drug-induced thrombocytopenia also indicated the probable likelihood of ezetimibe-induced thrombocytopenia. This patient was not rechallenged with ezetimibe due to the highly suggestive timeline present and unnecessary risk for him. Conclusions: Ezetimibe-associated thrombocytopenia cannot be ruled out in the patient reported here. Clinicians should be aware of this adverse event.
Passivity‐based sliding mode control for nonlinear systems
Authors: Koshkouei Ali J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractPassivity with sliding mode control for a class of nonlinear systems with and without unknown parameters is considered in this paper. In fact, a method for deriving a nonlinear system with external disturbances to a passive system is considered. Then a passive sliding mode control is designed corresponding to a given storage function. The passivity property guarantees the system stability while sliding mode control techniques assures the robustness of the proposed controller. When the system includes unknown parameters, an appropriate updated law is obtained so that the new transformed system is passive. The passivation property of linear systems with sliding mode is also analysed. The linear and nonlinear theories are applied to a simple pendulum model and the gravity‐flow/pipeline system, respectively. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fine‐mapping subtelomeric deletions and duplications by comparative genomic hybridization in 42 individuals
Authors: DeScipio Cheryl , Spinner Nancy B. , Kaur Maninder , Yaeger Dinah , Conlin Laura K. , Ambrosini Anthony , Hu Sufen , Shan Simei , Krantz Ian D. , Riethman Harold 
Published: February 2008

AbstractHuman subtelomere regions contain numerous gene‐rich segments and are susceptible to germline rearrangements. The availability of diagnostic test kits to detect subtelomeric rearrangements has resulted in the diagnosis of numerous abnormalities with clinical implications including congenital heart abnormalities and mental retardation. Several of these have been described as clinically recognizable syndromes (e.g., deletion of 1p, 3p, 5q, 6p, 9q, and 22q). Given this, fine‐mapping of subtelomeric breakpoints is of increasing importance to the assessment of genotype–phenotype correlations in these recognized syndromes as well as to the identification of additional syndromes. We developed a BAC and cosmid‐based DNA array (TEL array) with high‐resolution coverage of 10 Mb‐sized subtelomeric regions, and used it to analyze 42 samples from unrelated patients with subtelomeric rearrangements whose breakpoints were previously either unmapped or mapped at a lower resolution than that achievable with the TEL array. Six apparently recurrent subtelomeric breakpoint loci were localized to genomic regions containing segmental duplication, copy number variation, and sequence gaps. Small (1 Mb or less) candidate gene regions for clinical phenotypes in separate patients were identified for 3p, 6q, 9q, and 10p deletions as well as for a 19q duplication. In addition to fine‐mapping nearly all of the expected breakpoints, several previously unidentified rearrangements were detected. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Population demography and social structure changes in Eulemur fulvus rufus from 1988 to 2003
Authors: Erhart Elizabeth M. , Overdorff Deborah J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractEulemur fulvus rufus has been described as having stable multi‐male/multi‐female groups, a male‐biased sex ratio, and female philopatry. However, in a 16‐year study of this subspecies we documented a great deal of demographic change as several groups permanently fissioned, some groups disappeared, and new groups formed. We split the dataset into two periods, 1988 to 1993 and 1994 to 2003, which coincided with the first disappearance of a study group (in August 1994) and the first permanent group fission (in December 1994). The average group size decreased by nearly half between the study periods (10.5–5.6), while the frequency of group membership changes increased (2.0–8.3 times/year), and the birth rate decreased (0.56–0.38). Females, as well as males, immigrated into study groups and transferred between groups, something that has been rarely seen in this subspecies. We also found a significant decline in the amount of fruit from the earliest part of the study to the latter part of the study. Study groups did not switch to other types of foods during periods of fruit shortage, but traveled outside of their home range areas more often over the study period. Finally, the density E. f. rufus decreased in the study area while the densities of their main food competitors, Varecia variegata and Eulemur rubriventer, increased. Although few primate populations are numerically stable over time, we suggest that female behavioral responses to decreases in fruit availability may have influenced some of the demographic changes we witnessed in this study. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Determination of acetylsalicylic acid and its major metabolite, salicylic acid, in human plasma using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry: application to pharmacokinetic study of Astrix® in Korean healthy volunteers
Authors: Bae Soo Kyung , Seo Kyung Ah , Jung Eun Ji , Kim Ho‐Sook , Yeo Chang‐Woo , Shon Ji‐Hong , Park Kyung‐Mi , Liu Kwang‐Hyeon , Shin Jae‐Gook 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe first liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for determination of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, ASA) and one of its major metabolites, salicylic acid (SA), in human plasma using simvastatin as an internal standard has been developed and validated. For ASA analysis, a plasma sample containing potassium fluoride was extracted using a mixture of ethyl acetate and diethyl ether in the presence of 0.5% formic acid. SA, a major metabolite of ASA, was extracted from plasma using protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The compounds were separated on a reversed‐phase column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid (8:2, v/v). The ion transitions recorded in multiple reaction monitoring mode were m/z 179 → 137, 137 → 93 and 435 → 319 for ASA, SA and IS, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the assay precision was less than 9.3%, and the accuracy exceeded 86.5%. The lower limits of quantification for ASA and SA were 5 and 50 ng/mL, respectively. The developed assay method was successfully applied for the evaluation of pharmacokinetics of ASA and SA after single oral administration of Astrix® (entero‐coated pellet, 100 mg of aspirin) to 10 Korean healthy male volunteers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chemische Produktion gemäß Koran und Thora. Chemie und Religion
Authors: Roth Klaus 
Published: February 2008

AbstractDie Herstellung von Produkten im Einklang mit den Gesetzen des islamischen oder jüdischen Glaubens stellt sowohl für die chemische Industrie als auch für die religiösen Autoritäten eine erhebliche Herausforderung dar, die nur in vertrauensvoller Zusammenarbeit gemeistert werden kann. Ein koscher‐ oder halal‐Zertifikat bedeutet nicht, dass das Produkt aus chemischer Sicht besonders rein ist. Vielmehr wird garantiert, dass alle Rohstoffe koscher oder halal waren und der gesamte Verarbeitungsprozess im Einklang mit den religiösen Gesetzen erfolgt ist. Für die chemische Industrie öffnen sich neue Märkte und der gläubige Verbraucher kann sicher sein, dass eine zweite vertrauenswürdige Autorität den gesamten Herstellungsprozess überwacht hat.
The Impact of Computer‐assisted Auscultation on Physician Referrals of Asymptomatic Patients with Heart Murmurs
Authors: Watrous Raymond L. , Thompson W. Reid , Ackerman Stacey J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractBackgroundAs many as 50–70% of asymptomatic children referred for specialist evaluation or echocardiography because of a murmur have no heart disease.HypothesisComputer‐assisted auscultation (CAA) can improve the sensitivity and specificity of referrals for evaluation of heart murmurs.MethodsSeven board‐certified primary care physicians were evaluated both without and with use of a computer‐based decision‐support system using 100 prerecorded patient heart sounds (55 innocent murmurs, 30 pathological murmurs, 15 without murmur). The sensitivity and specificity of their murmur referral decisions relative to American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines, and sensitivity and specificity of murmur detection and characterization (innocent versus pathological) were measured.ResultsSensitivity for detection of murmurs significantly increased with use of CAA from 76.6 to 89.1% (p <0.001), while specificity remained unaffected (80.0 versus 81.0%). Computer‐assisted auscultation improved sensitivity of correctly identifying pathological murmur cases from 82.4 to 90.0%, and specificity of correctly identifying benign cases (with innocent or no murmurs) from 74.9 to 88.8%. (p <0.001). Referral sensitivity increased from 86.7 to 92.9%, while specificity increased from 63.5 to 78.6% using CAA (p <0.001).ConclusionsComputer‐assisted auscultation appears to be a promising new technology for informing the referral decisions of primary care physicians. Copyright © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The voice and you: development and psychometric evaluation of a measure of relationships with voices
Authors: Hayward Mark , Denney Joanna , Vaughan Sam , Fowler David 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe experience of hearing voices has recently been conceptualized within a relational framework. Birtchnell's Relating Theory offers a framework capable of exploring the power and intimacy within the relationship between the hearer and the voice. However, measures of relationships with voices derived from the theory, such as the Hearer to Voice (HTV) and Voice to Hearer (VTH) by Vaughan and Fowler, have lacked robust psychometric properties. Data were available from 71 participants who completed the HTV and VTH, and analysis of these data generated a new 29‐item measure, the Voice and You (VAY), capable of assessing the ‘interrelating’ between the hearer and the voice. The VAY was completed by a further 30 participants and was found to be internally consistent, stable over time and associated with other measures of the voice‐hearing experience. The VAY offers a psychometrically stable measure of the relationship between the hearer and the voice. It may be used as an adjunct to the clinical interview and/or a measure of outcome. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Generation of a transgenic mouse line expressing GFP‐Cre protein from a Hoxb4 neural enhancer
Authors: Rivkin Elena , Cordes Sabine P. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractHere, we describe a transgenic mouse line, in which expression of green fluorescent protein fused to Cre recombinase (GFP‐Cre) is directed by the early neuronal enhancer (ENE) of Hoxb4. In E9.0–13.5 transgenic embryos, Cre activity coincided with endogenous Hoxb4 throughout the neural tube up to the r6/r7 boundary in the hindbrain, the dorsal root ganglia, and the Xth cranial ganglia. Unexpectedly, Cre activity was also consistently detected in the trigeminal (Vth) cranial nerve, which is devoid of endogenous Hoxb4 expression. Strong GFP dependent fluorescence appeared slightly later in E9.5–E11.5 embryos, and reflected the later expression pattern expected for Hoxb4‐ENE directed expression in the neural tube up to the r7/r8 not r6/r7 boundary. Thus, with the exception of the trigeminal nerve, this reporter faithfully reproduces endogenous embryonic neural Hoxb4 expression, and provides an excellent reagent for in vivo gene manipulations in neuronal Hoxb4 positive cells as well as the developing trigeminal nerve. This transgenic mouse line should prove especially useful for determining the fate map of neuronal populations arising in rhombomeres 7 and 8 on its own and in combination with the small set of other existing rhombomere‐specific Cre recombinase expressing lines. genesis 46:119–124, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
First Evidence of Proline Acting as a Bifunctional Catalyst in the Baylis–Hillman Reaction Between Alkyl Vinyl Ketones and Aryl Aldehydes
Authors: Gruttadauria Michelangelo , Giacalone Francesco , Lo Meo Paolo , Mossuto Marculescu Adriana , Riela Serena , Noto Renato 
Published: February 2008

AbstractProline in the presence of sodium hydrogen carbonate has been found to be an effective catalyst for the Baylis–Hillman reaction between methyl or ethyl vinyl ketone and aryl aldehydes. Screening of several amine catalysts showed that an ionizable carboxylic function directly linked to the secondary amine catalyst plays an important role in the synthesis of the desired product in good yield. The data obtained has allowed us to suggest, for the first time, that proline, sarcosine, pipecolinic acid and homoproline may act as bifunctional catalysts via a bicyclic enaminolactone species as intermediate. Quantum‐mechanical calculations (PM3/COSMO and ab initio 3‐21G/COSMO) support this mechanism and give more insight into the role of hydrogen carbonate.(© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)
Improved upsampling filter design for spatially scalable video coding
Authors: Wang Zhang , Liu Jian 
Published: February 2008

AbstractScalable video coding is an ongoing standard, and the current working draft (WD) is to be finalized as an extension of H.264/AVC. It provides scalability at the bit stream level with good compression efficiency and allowing free combinations of spatial, temporal and quality scalability. In the WD, a uniform up‐sampling filter is employed to interpolate the base layer frames. This technique achieves high interpolated precision for both luma component and chroma components, but it results in extremely large encoding time which obstructs it from practical use. This paper proposes an improved up‐sampling filter design for spatially scalable video coding. It makes use of a basic characteristic of human vision system and intends to assign different filters for different components. Specifically, current usage of the 6‐tap up‐sampling filter is only for luma component, but for chroma components, much more simplified filter such as 4‐tap filter or 2‐tap filter should be used instead. Experimental results show that improved up‐sampling filter design reduces the computational complexity significantly with negligible coding loss and bit‐rate increases. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 17, 315–319, 2007
Regenerative potential of human periodontal ligament derived stem cells on three‐dimensional biomaterials: A morphological report
Authors: Trubiani O. , Orsini G. , Zini N. , Di Iorio D. , Piccirilli M. , Piattelli A. , Caputi S. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractRecent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells obtained from periodontal ligament (PDL‐MSCs) are multipotent cells that have similar features of the bone marrow and dental pulp MSCs and are capable of proliferating and producing different types of tissue such as bone and tooth associated‐tissues. Human PDL‐MSCs expanded ex vivo were induced to osteogenesis, seeded in three‐dimensional biocompatible scaffolds (fibrin sponge, bovine‐derived substitutes) and examined using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Morphological observations showed extensive growth of cellular biomass partially covering the scaffolds after 4 weeks of incubation in mineralization medium. These findings indicate that periodontal ligament can be an easily and efficient autologous source of stem cells with a high expansion capacity and ability to differentiate in osteogenic cells that can colonize and grow connected to bio‐compatible scaffold. It can be suggested that the use of PDL‐MSCs for generating graft biomaterials is advantageous for bone tissue engineering in regenerative dentistry. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2008
Hemocompatibility and antibacterial properties of lanthanum oxide films synthesized by dual plasma deposition
Authors: Jing F. J. , Huang N. , Liu Y. W. , Zhang W. , Zhao X. B. , Fu R. K. Y. , Wang J. B. , Shao Z. Y. , Chen J. Y. , Leng Y. X. , Liu X. Y. , Chu P. K. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractLanthanum oxide (La2O3) films with good hemocompatibility and antibacterial properties have been fabricated using dual plasma deposition. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that La exists in the +3 oxidation state. The band gap of the materials is determined to be 3.6 eV. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and blood platelet adhesion tests were used to evaluate the blood compatibility. The bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, were used in plate counting tests to determine the surface antibacterial properties. The APTT is a little longer than those of blood plasma and stainless steel (SS). Furthermore, the numbers of adhered, aggregated, and morphologically changed platelets are reduced compared with those on low‐temperature isotropic carbon and SS. The antibacterial plate‐counting test indicates that La2O3 has good antibacterial activity against S. aureus. These unique hemocompatibility and antibacterial properties make La2O3 useful in many biomedical applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2008