bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sex and virulence in Escherichia coli: an evolutionary perspective
Authors: Wirth Thierry , Falush Daniel , Lan Ruiting , Colles Frances , Mensa Patience , Wieler Lothar H. , Karch Helge , Reeves Peter R. , Maiden Martin C. J. , Ochman Howard , Achtman Mark 
Published: May 2006

SummaryPathogenic Escherichia coli cause over 160 million cases of dysentery and one million deaths per year, whereas non‐pathogenic E. coli constitute part of the normal intestinal flora of healthy mammals and birds. The evolutionary pathways underlying this dichotomy in bacterial lifestyle were investigated by multilocus sequence typing of a global collection of isolates. Specific pathogen types [enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, enteroinvasive E. coli, K1 and Shigella] have arisen independently and repeatedly in several lineages, whereas other lineages contain only few pathogens. Rates of evolution have accelerated in pathogenic lineages, culminating in highly virulent organisms whose genomic contents are altered frequently by increased rates of homologous recombination; thus, the evolution of virulence is linked to bacterial sex. This long‐term pattern of evolution was observed in genes distributed throughout the genome, and thereby is the likely result of episodic selection for strains that can escape the host immune response.
Tapping the nucleotide pool of the host: novel nucleotide carrier proteins of Protochlamydia amoebophila
Authors: Haferkamp Ilka , Schmitz‐Esser Stephan , Wagner Michael , Neigel Nadjeschka , Horn Matthias , Neuhaus H. Ekkehard 
Published: May 2006

Summary Protochlamydia amoebophila UWE25 is related to the Chlamydiaceae comprising major pathogens of humans, but thrives as obligate intracellular symbiont in the protozoan host Acanthamoeba sp. The genome of P. amoebophila encodes five paralogous carrier proteins belonging to the nucleotide transporter (NTT) family. Here we report on three P. amoebophila NTT isoforms, PamNTT2, PamNTT3 and PamNTT5, which possess several conserved amino acid residues known to be critical for nucleotide transport. We demonstrated that these carrier proteins are able to transport nucleotides, although substrate specificities and mode of transport differ in an unexpected manner and are unique among known NTTs. PamNTT2 is a counter exchange transporter exhibiting submillimolar apparent affinities for all four RNA nucleotides, PamNTT3 catalyses an unidirectional proton‐coupled transport confined to UTP, whereas PamNTT5 mediates a proton‐energized GTP and ATP import. All NTT genes of P. amoebophila are transcribed during intracellular multiplication in acanthamoebae. The biochemical characterization of all five NTT proteins from P. amoebophila in this and previous studies uncovered that these metabolically impaired bacteria are intimately connected with their host cell’s metabolism in a surprisingly complex manner.
Syn‐extension leucogranite deformation during convergence in the Eastern Central Alps: example of the Novate intrusion
Authors: Ciancaleoni Laurent , Marquer Didier 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe Novate intrusion is a Late Alpine leucogranite that intruded the structures related to dextral back‐thrusting along the Periadriatic Fault System in the Eastern Central Alps. The Novate granite was heterogeneously deformed from amphibolite to greenschist facies conditions during cooling of the intrusion. The deformation inside the granite is characterized by strongly localized and anastomosed ductile shear zones surrounding lenses of weakly deformed granite and by late faults formed at the brittle–ductile transition. The fault kinematic analysis of conjugated shear zones suggests that the Novate leucogranite was emplaced at 25 Ma in an extensional regime along the southern tip of the Forcola Fault. A model of extensional jog opening by vertical shearing along the Forcola Fault provided the space for magma accommodation. The Novate granite is the first evidence for orogen‐parallel syn‐extensional leucogranite emplacement during the Oligocene collision in the Alps.
The PTPN22 1858T variant is not associated with primary biliary cirrhosis
Authors: Milkiewicz P. , Pache I. , Buwaneswaran H. , Liu X. , Coltescu C. , Heathcote E. J. , Siminovitch K. A. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe minor allele of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the PTPN22 gene (1858T) encoding the Lyp‐tyrosine phosphatase has been recently associated with multiple autoimmune disorders, raising the possibility that this variant may also represent a risk allele for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). We therefore investigated the possible association of the PTPN22(1858T) variant with PBC in a Canadian population. We studied 160 Caucasian patients with biopsy and antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA)‐proven PBC who were genotyped for the PTPN22(C1858T) SNP using a single‐base primer extension assay and mass spectrometry. The frequency of the PTPN22(1858T) allele was then compared between the patients and 290 healthy controls. No association was detected between the PTPN22(1858T) allele and PBC, the frequency of this variant being similar in patients with PBC (7.5%) and controls (8.4%). Restricting the analysis to patients with PBC with any second autoimmune condition or specifically with sicca syndrome or autoimmune thyroid disease also revealed no association with this variant. Thus the PTPN22(1858T) variant is not associated with PBC or with the combination of PBC and a second autoimmune disease. These data suggest that this variant does not confer risk for PBC and does not account for the frequent presence of other autoimmune diseases in patients with PBC.
Selection on protein‐coding genes of natural cyanobacterial populations
Authors: Mes Ted H. M. , Doeleman Marije , Lodders Nicole , Nübel Ulrich , Stal Lucas J. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryWe examined the distribution of synonymous and non‐synonymous changes in 12 protein‐coding genes of natural populations of cyanobacteria to infer changes in gene functionality. By comparing mutation distributions within and across species using the McDonald–Kreitman test, we found data sets to contain evidence for purifying selection (hetRofTrichodesmium,nifHofCylindrospermopsis raceborskiiandrpoC1ofAnabaena lemmermannii) and positive selection (kaiCofMicrocoleus chthonoplastesandrbcXofAnabaenaandAphanizomenonsp.). Other genes from the same set of clonal isolates (petBandrbcLinM. chthonoplastesandAnabaena/Aphanizomenon, respectively) did not harbour evidence for either form of selection. The results of branch models of codon evolution agreed fully with the results of the McDonald–Kreitman test in terms of significance and absolute value of the dN/dS estimates. The high frequency of gene‐specific mutation patterns and their association with branches that separate closely related cyanobacterial genera suggest that evolutionary tests are suited to uncover gene‐specific selective differentiation in cyanobacterial genomes. At the same time, given the lack of information about the history of cyanobacteria, analysis of larger numbers of protein‐coding genes of clonal cyanobacterial isolates will produce more detailed pictures of the effects of natural selection.
NOT EVERY CELL IS SACRED: A REPLY TO CHARO
Authors: DISILVESTRO RUSSELL 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTMassimo Reichlin, in an earlier article in this journal, defended a version of the ‘argument from potential’ (AFP), which concludes that the human embryo should be protected from the moment of conception. But R. Alta Charo, in her essay entitled ‘Every Cell is Sacred: Logical Consequences of the Argument from Potential in the Age of Cloning’, claims that versions of the AFP like Reichlin’s are vulnerable to a rather embarrassing problem: with the advent of human cloning, such versions of the AFP entail that every somatic cell in the human body ought to be protected. Since this entailment is clearly absurd, Charo argues, these versions of the AFP should be rejected. I argue that the reasons Charo cites for believing in this entailment are inconclusive. For example, the four reasons she gives for doubting any differences between the nature of skin cells and zygotes are ultimately unconvincing. Against Charo, I maintain that there is a relevant distinction between the sort of potential possessed by the somatic cell and the sort of potential possessed by the early human embryo. Since only the latter sort of potential falls within the scope of the AFP, the alleged absurd entailment Charo invites us to consider is no entailment at all. Hence the AFP cannot be rejected on the grounds Charo advances. Even in an age of cloning, the claim that some cells are ‘sacred’ because of their potential does not entail the claim that every cell is sacred.
COLLINGWOOD, BRADLEY, AND HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE
Authors: BURNS ROBERT M. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTThe central feature of the narrative structure of Collingwood's The Idea of History (IH) is the pivotal role accorded to Bradley, evident in the table of contents and in the two discussions of him. Few readers have noticed that, confusingly, the book's first discussion of Bradley (on pages 134‐141) is a revision of the (1935) Inaugural Lecture “The Historical Imagination,” which constitutes the book's second discussion of Bradley (on pages 231‐249). The differences between these two presentations of Bradley are significant. The 1935 account (presented in IH on pages 231‐249) seeks to portray the Bradley of the Presuppositions of Critical History as a Copernican revolutionary in historical thought, even though the neo‐Kantian transcendentalism promoted in the Lecture had been the core of Collingwood's approach to philosophy of history from the mid‐1920s, many years before he encountered Bradley's essay. By 1935 this transcendentalism was in the process of self‐destructing because of inner contradictions. By 1936, once Collingwood's narrative and his criticisms of Bradley left the 1935 claims unsustainable, Collingwood shifted attention to Bradley's later works, in an unsuccessful attempt to sustain the notion of his originality (presented in IH on pages 134‐141).Hitherto neglected Collingwood manuscripts held in the Bodleian prove that by 1940 Collingwood recognized this, so that the prominence Knox gave to Bradley in his editing of the IH is demonstrably not in accord with Collingwood's views and plans for The Idea of History. Knox's much‐disputed claim that there was a radical shift to historicism in the later Collingwood is, however, confirmed, clear proof being adduced that in the later 1930s the attempt transcendentally to deduce universal and necessary presuppositions of historical knowledge is abandoned for a radically historicist account, paralleled by a demotion of “critical history” as the final form of “history proper” in favor of “scientific history.”
Comparison of the Dissemination and Implementation of Standardized Public Health Nursing Competencies in Academic and Practice Settings
Authors: Oppewal Sonda , Lamanna Beth F. , Lee Glenn Loyd 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACT
Objectives: To assess the use of the “Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals” standards in practice and academic work settings by public health nurses (PHNs), and to determine differences between practitioners and faculty.Design: Nonexperimental, descriptive study using a cross‐sectional survey.Sample: Three public health nursing (PHN) organizations sent invitations to all members. A total of 334 (18.7%) from an estimated 1,786 members completed the survey.Measurements: The investigators developed a 17‐item web‐based survey with open‐ and closed‐ended responses, using Rogers' diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework.Results: Respondents are equally familiar with the competencies for public health professionals disseminated by the Council on Linkages and for PHNs by the Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (Quad Council). Two thirds of PHNs are aware of the competencies after only 2 years, primarily from professional PHN organizations. Faculty are adopting and using the competencies at a significantly faster rate than practitioners.Conclusions: Faculty and practitioners who use the competencies value them, and rarely discontinued their use after adoption. Efforts to promote diffusion among faculty and especially practitioners need to continue. Professional organizations can actively provide and share examples of useable formats and best practices associated with the competencies.
Predictors of Mortality in the Old‐Old in Israel: The Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study
Authors: Ben‐Ezra Menachem , Shmotkin Dov 
Published: May 2006

OBJECTIVES:To examine whether well‐known predictors of mortality change their predictive power over time, being reduced or even reversed in the old‐old.DESIGN:A multidimensional survey of the Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study conducted from 1989 to 1992 with follow‐up of mortality after 6, 8, 10, and 12 years since 1989.SETTING:Israel.PARTICIPANTS:Participants (N=1,369) were drawn from a national sample of the Jewish Israeli population aged 75 to 94.MEASUREMENTS:Data included sociodemographic factors and measures of health, physical condition, cognitive performance, and depression.RESULTS:The results showed that age, sex, disability, self‐rated health, and marital status predicted mortality and that their predictive power changed over 9 years.CONCLUSION:In the old‐old, predictors of mortality changed over time, and their predictive effect eventually diminished. The predictors found to be most significant (age, sex, disability, and self‐rated health) support the common cause theory.
Healthcare Utilization of Elderly Persons Hospitalized After a Noninjurious Fall in a Swiss Academic Medical Center
Authors: Seematter‐Bagnoud Laurence , Wietlisbach Vincent , Yersin Bertrand , Büla Christophe J. 
Published: May 2006

OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk of hospital readmission, nursing home admission, and death, as well as health services utilization over a 6‐month follow‐up, in community‐dwelling elderly persons hospitalized after a noninjurious fall.DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with 6‐month follow‐up.SETTING: Swiss academic medical center.PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred ninety persons aged 75 and older hospitalized through the emergency department.MEASUREMENTS: Data on demographics and medical, physical, social, and mental status were collected upon admission. Follow‐up data were collected from the state centralized billing system (hospital and nursing home admission) and proxies (death).RESULTS: Seventy patients (10%) were hospitalized after a noninjurious fall. Fallers had shorter hospital stays (median 4 vs 8 days, P<.001) and were more frequently discharged to rehabilitation or respite care than nonfallers. During follow‐up, fallers were more likely to be institutionalized (adjusted hazard ratio=1.82, 95% confidence interval=1.03–3.19, P=.04) independent of comorbidity and functional and mental status. Overall institutional costs (averaged per day of follow‐up) were similar for both groups ($138.5 vs $148.7, P=.66), but fallers had lower hospital costs and significantly higher rehabilitation and long‐term care costs ($55.5 vs $24.1, P<.001), even after adjustment for comorbidity, living situation, and functional and cognitive status.CONCLUSION: Elderly patients hospitalized after a noninjurious fall were twice as likely to be institutionalized as those admitted for other medical conditions and had higher intermediate and long‐term care services utilization during follow‐up, independent of functional and health status. These results provide direction for interventions needed to delay or prevent institutionalization and reduce subsequent costs.
Current usage of intravenous immune globulin and the rationale behind it: the Massachusetts General Hospital data and a review of the literature
Authors: Darabi Kamran , Abdel‐Wahab Omar , Dzik Walter H. 
Published: May 2006

BACKGROUND:  Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in 6 conditions: immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), primary immunodeficiency, secondary immunodeficiency, pediatric HIV infection, Kawasaki disease, prevention of graft versus host disease (GVHD) and infection in bone marrow transplant recipients. However, most usage is for off‐label indications, and for some of these comprehensive guidelines have been published.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS:  We retrospectively reviewed all approved IVIG transfusions at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2004 to identify the current usage pattern and completed a literature review.RESULTS:  IVIG was most commonly used in the treatment of chronic neuropathy, which included chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy. For such patients, the annual cost of IVIG can exceed $50,000 per patient. Other common indications were the treatment of hypogammaglobulinemia, ITP, renal transplant rejection, myasthenia gravis, Guillain‐Barre syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and Kawasaki disease. IVIG was administered in a variety of other indications each representing <3% of the total treated patients.CONCLUSION:  Only a few indications account for most of the usage for IVIG. Reports concerning IVIG continue to grow at a tremendous pace but few high‐quality randomized controlled trials have been reported. Randomized trials are especially needed for conditions such as CIDP, which consume large quantities of product.
Transvascular dissemination of Porphyromonas gingivalis from a sequestered site is dependent upon activation of the kallikrein/kinin pathway
Authors: Hu S.‐W. , Huang C.‐H. , Huang H.‐C. , Lai Y.‐Y. , Lin Y.‐Y. 
Published: May 2006

Background and Objective:  Epidemiological evidence implicates a connection between human periodontitis and systemic diseases. One possible mechanism involves the direct dissemination of periodontopathogens to the target organs through the circulation. The aim of this work was to define the mechanism used by Porphyromonas gingivalis for dissemination from a sequestered infection site.Material and Methods:  BALB/c mice were subcutaneously infected with P. gingivalis via use of a mouse chamber model. Tissue fluids from various sites were collected and cultured to determine the presence of P. gingivalis. Evans Blue dye was used to measure the dissemination ability of P. gingivalis. Kinin‐associated molecules were introduced into mice, and their effects on bacterial dissemination and mouse pathology were monitored.Results:  P. gingivalis strain A7436 caused remote lesions and septicemia with severe cachexia, resulting in animal death. Intrachamber challenge with A7436 resulted in vascular permeability enhancement (VPE), as measured by the systemic infiltration of Evans Blue dye into chamber fluids. VPE was blocked by kininase and kinin receptor antagonist and enhanced by exogenous bradykinin and kininase inhibitor. Live bacteria were recovered from the subcutaneous perichamber and abdominal spaces (spreading), and from the blood (disseminating) of infected mice. Both kininase and kinin receptor antagonist reduced animal mortality as a result of infection with strain A7436 and decreased the number of bacteria recoverable from the blood, but they were not associated with bacterial spreading.Conclusions:  The results suggest that activation of the kinin system is involved in the breach of the vascular barrier that permits dissemination of P. gingivalis.
1141150242 IgA is required for protection against Chlamydia infection in the male genital tract
Authors: Beagley KW , Cunningham KA , Carey AJ , Hickey DK , Bao S 
Published: May 2006

Aim:  To determine if IgA is required for protection against Chlamydia infection in the male reproductive tract (MRT).Materials and Methods:  Male polyimmunoglobulin receptor knockout mice (PIgR‐/‐) and wild‐type C57BL/6 (WT) mice were immunised intranasally with chlamydial major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and cholera toxin (CT). MOMP‐specific IgG and IgA in serum and prostatic fluids were measured by ELISA. Serum and PF were also assayed for inhibition of in vitro chlamydial infection. Immunized WT and PIgR‐/‐ mice were challenged by direct inoculation of C. muridarum into the meatus urethra. Four weeks post challenge Chlamydia levels in the penile urethra, epididymis and testis were determined by PCR.Results:  Equivalent levels of IgG were found in the serum of both WT and PIgR‐/‐ mice however IgA in serum of PIgR‐/‐ mice was 19‐ to 20‐fold higher than in WT animals consistent with the lack of the PIgR IgA transport molecule. IgA levels were significantly lower in PIgR‐/‐ PF compared to WT PF after both immunization and infection. Only PF from WT but not PIgR‐/‐ animals was able to inhibit in vitro chlamydial infection. Following challenge significantly higher levels of Chlamydia were recovered from the MRT of PIgR‐/‐ mice compared to WT animals.Conclusions:  Male mice lacking a functional PIgR were unable to clear a genital tract Chlamydia infection despite high levels of serum IgA. These data show that mucosal IgA plays a major role in preventing chlamydial infection of the male genital tract and suggest that immunization strategies to protect males should target a strong mucosal IgA response.
1141222326 Analysis of effects of androgen on protein profiles in TM4 mouse Sertoli cells by SELDI‐TOF mass spectrometry
Authors: Komori S , Sakata K , Kasumi H , Takenobu T , Uchida K , Fukuoka M , Koyama K 
Published: May 2006

Aim:  The identification of proteins induced by androgen in Sertoli cells is a major issue in spermatogenesis.Methods:  In this study, we analyzed protein profiles in TM4 Sertoli cells treated with dihydrotestosterone using SELDI‐TOF mass spectrometry.Results:  We found increases in expression of a 5.0 kDa protein at 15 min, a 11.3 kDa protein at 24 hr and 4.3, 5.7, 5.8, 9.95 and 9.98 kDa proteins at 48 hr. On the other hand, expression of 6.3 and 8.6 kDa proteins were decreased at 30 min, and 4.9, 5.0, 12.4 and 19.8 kDa proteins at 48 hr. The 11.3 kDa molecule was identified as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) known to having various functions. The 9.98 kDa molecule was identified as calgizzarin related to calcium channel. The timing of its expression suggests that MIF and calgizzarin are involved late in androgen regulation of spermatogenesis in Sertoli cells. The 19.8 kDa molecule was identified as translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) known to bind to tublin and Ca2+ and regulates cell proliferation.Conclusion:  Androgenic effects on spermatogenesis are exerted eventually through MIF, calgizzarin and TCTP.