bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chloride transporting capability of Calu‐3 epithelia following persistent knockdown of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, CFTR
Authors: MacVinish L J , Cope G , Ropenga A , Cuthbert A W 
Published: March 2007

Background and purpose:Calu‐3 cells are derived from serous cells of human lung submucosal glands, a prime target for therapy in cystic fibrosis (CF). Calu‐3 cells can be cultured to form epithelia capable of transepithelial transport of chloride. A CF Calu‐3 cell is not available.Experimental approach:A retroviral vector was used to cause persistent down regulation of CFTR using siRNA methodology, in Calu‐3 cells. A Calu‐3 cell line with CFTR content less than 5% of the original line has been established. Epithelia grown using the modified cells have been used in comparative studies of transporting capability.Key results:All aspects of cAMP activated chloride secretion were attenuated in the epithelia with reduced CFTR content. However transporting capability was reduced less than the CFTR content. From studies with the CFTR channel inhibitor, GlyH‐101, it was concluded that wild type Calu‐3 cells have a reserve of CFTR channels not located in the membrane, but available for replacement, while in the modified Calu‐3 cell line there was little or no reserve. Lubiprostone, a putative ClC‐2 activator, increased transepithelial chloride secretion in both modified and wild type Calu‐3 epithelia. Modified Calu‐3 epithelia with the residual CFTR currents blocked with GlyH‐101 responded equally well to lubiprostone as those without the blocking agent.Conclusions and implications:It appears that lubiprostone is capable of stimulating a non‐CFTR dependent transepithelial chloride secretion in Calu‐3 monolayers, with obvious implications for CF therapy. Cell lines, however, do not always reflect the behaviour of the native tissue with integrity.British Journal of Pharmacology(2007)150, 1055–1065. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707175
Thinness, overweight and obesity in a national sample of Iranian children and adolescents: CASPIAN Study
Authors: Kelishadi R. , Ardalan G. , Gheiratmand R. , Majdzadeh R. , Hosseini M. , Gouya M. M. , Razaghi E. M. , Delavari A. , Motaghian M. , Barekati H. , Mahmoud‐Arabi M. S. , Lock K. ,   Caspian Study Group
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackground  This study was conducted to assess the national prevalence of different grades of nutritional status (underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity) among Iranian school‐students and to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity using three different sets of criteria.Methods  This cross‐sectional national survey was conducted on a representative sample of 21 111 school students including 10 253 boys (48.6%) and 10 858 girls (51.4%) aged 6–18 years, selected by multistage random cluster sampling from urban (84.6%) and rural (15.4%) areas of 23 provinces in Iran The percentage of subjects in the corresponding body mass index (BMI) categories of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the obtained national percentiles were assessed and compared.Results  There was no gender differences in BMI, but was higher in boys living in urban than in rural areas (18.4 ± 3.88 vs. 17.86 ± 3.66 kg/m2 respectively, P < 0.05). The prevalence of underweight was 13.9% (8.1% of boys and 5.7% of girls) according to the CDC percentiles, and 5% (2.6% of boys and 2.4% of girls) according to the obtained percentiles. According to the CDC, IOTF and national cut‐offs, the prevalence of overweight was 8.82%, 11.3% and 10.1% respectively; and the prevalence of obesity was 4.5%, 2.9% and 4.79% respectively. The prevalence of overweight was highest (10.98%) in the 12‐year‐old group and that of obesity (7.81%) in the 6‐year‐old group. The kappa correlation coefficient was 0.71 between the CDC and IOTF criteria, 0.64 between IOTF and national cut‐offs, and 0.77 between CDC and national cut‐offs.Conclusions  The findings of this study warrant the necessity of paying special attention to monitoring of the time trends in child obesity based on uniform definitions, as well as to design programmes to prevent and control associated factors.
Effect of the −420C/G variant of the resistin gene promoter on metabolic syndrome, obesity, myocardial infarction and kidney dysfunction
Authors: Norata G. D. , Ongari M. , Garlaschelli K. , Tibolla G. , Grigore L. , Raselli S. , Vettoretti S. , Baragetti I. , Noto D. , Cefalù A.B. , Buccianti G. , Averna M. , Catapano A.L. 
Published: March 2007

Abstract.Objective.  Resistin is an adipokine that has been suggested to be correlated with markers of inflammation and to be predictive of coronary atherosclerosis and type II diabetes in humans. A common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (−420C/G) in the promoter of resistin is associated with increased resistin plasma levels and susceptibility to type II diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the ‐420C/G polymorphism with metabolic syndrome, obesity, myocardial infarction and kidney disease.Design and results.  First we studied 1542 subjects from the PLIC study (a population based cohort). GG carriers showed an higher prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome as well as increased plasma triglycerides levels, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and cardiovascular risk according to Framingham algorithm (P < 0.05 for all). Next we investigated the presence of the −420C/G resistin polymorphism in a case‐control study that included 300 subject with myocardial infarction and 300 age and sex matched controls and then we studied the role of the −420C/G SNP in 88 patients with mild to moderate renal dysfunction. No statistically significant differences in allele frequencies between the PLIC study, the myocardial infarction (MI) cases and the subjects with renal dysfunction were observed. Pro‐inflammatory gene expression profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells failed to detect any difference between wild type subjects and carriers of the rare allele.Conclusion.  Our data suggest that the presence of the −420C/G SNP of the resistin gene is associated with increased obesity and metabolic syndrome, although it is not different in subjects at high cardiovascular risk such as patients with myocardial infarction or patients with renal dysfunction compared with controls.
MAX2 participates in an SCF complex which acts locally at the node to suppress shoot branching
Authors: Stirnberg Petra , Furner Ian J. , Ottoline Leyser H. M. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryThe Arabidopsis gene ORE9/MAX2 encodes an F‐box leucine‐rich repeat protein. F‐box proteins function as the substrate‐recruiting subunit of SCF‐type ubiquitin E3 ligases in protein ubiquitination. One of several phenotypes of max2 mutants, the highly branched shoot, is identical to mutants at three other MAX loci. Reciprocal grafting, double mutant analysis and gene cloning suggest that all MAX genes act in a common pathway, where branching suppression depends on MAX2 activity in the shoot, in response to an acropetally mobile signal that requires MAX3, MAX4 and MAX1 for its production. Here, we further investigate the site and mode of action of MAX2 in branching. Transcript analysis and a translational MAX2–GUS fusion indicate that MAX2 is expressed throughout the plant, most highly in developing vasculature, and is nuclear‐localized in many cell types. Analysis of cell autonomy shows that MAX2 acts locally, either in the axillary bud, or in adjacent stem or petiole tissue. Expression of MAX2 from the CaMV 35S promoter complements the max2 mutant, does not affect branching in a wild‐type background and partially rescues increased branching in the max1, max3 and max4 backgrounds. Expression of mutant MAX2, lacking the F‐box domain, under the CaMV 35S promoter does not complement max2, and dominant‐negatively affects branching in the wild‐type background. Myc‐epitope‐tagged MAX2 interacts with the core SCF subunits ASK1 and AtCUL1 in planta. We conclude that axillary shoot growth is controlled locally, at the node, by an SCFMAX2, the action of which is enhanced by the mobile MAX signal.
Habitat type determines the effects of disturbance on the breeding productivity of the Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata
Authors: MURISON GISELLE , BULLOCK JAMES M. , UNDERHILL‐DAY JOHN , LANGSTON ROWENA , BROWN ANDREW F. , SUTHERLAND WILLIAM J. 
Published: March 2007

Numerous studies have examined the causes and impacts of human disturbance on birds, but little is known about how these impacts vary among habitats. This is of applied importance both for predicting bird responses to changes in disturbance and in planning how to reduce disturbance impacts. The Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata, a key heathland breeding species, occupies territories in a range of heathland types. Three territory habitat groups were identified: heather‐dominated territories, heather territories with significant areas of European Gorse Ulex europaeus and territories containing Western Gorse U. gallii. Productivity was significantly affected by the timing of breeding in all habitats, but disturbance only appeared to have a significant impact on the productivity of birds in heather territories. Disturbance events in heather territories delayed breeding pairs for up to 6 weeks. This significantly decreased both the number of successful broods raised and the average number of chicks fledged per pair. Nests situated close to territory boundaries in heather territories, with high numbers of disturbance events, were more likely to fail outright. It was determined that an average of between 13 and 16 people passing through a heather territory each hour would delay breeding pairs sufficiently to prevent multiple broods.
Calcium homeostasis and modulation of synaptic plasticity in the aged brain
Authors: Foster Thomas C. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryThe level of intracellular Ca2+ plays a central role in normal and pathological signaling within and between neurons. These processes involve a cascade of events for locally raising and lowering cytosolic Ca2+. As the mechanisms for age‐related alteration in Ca2+ dysregulation have been illuminated, hypotheses concerning Ca2+ homeostasis and brain aging have been modified. The idea that senescence is due to pervasive cell loss associated with elevated resting Ca2+ has been replaced by concepts concerning changes in local Ca2+ levels associated with neural activity. This article reviews evidence for a shift in the sources of intracellular Ca2+ characterized by a diminished role for N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors and an increased role for intracellular stores and voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels. Physiological and biological models are outlined, which relate a shift in Ca2+ regulation with changes in cell excitability and synaptic plasticity, resulting in a functional lesion of the hippocampus.
Working with Anonymity: A Theory of Theory vs. Archive
Authors: Griffin Robert J. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis paper is part of a Literature Compass cluster arising from a panel entitled ‘Working the Early Modern Archive’, originally presented at the 2005 MLA conference held in Washington DC. This session, arranged by the MLA Division on Methods of Literary Research, was chaired by Elizabeth Hageman (University of New Hampshire) and included papers by Jennifer Summit (Stanford University) on readers and medieval manuscripts, Lena Cowen Orlin (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) using a case study of archival research and the discovery and recovery of missing 17th‐century materials, and Robert J. Griffin (Texas A&M University) on the relationship between archival research and theoretical approaches. The two pieces included in this Literature Compass special panel cluster highlight the different ways in which archival research continues to shape and to invigorate 17th‐century literary studies:‘Working the Early Modern Archive: The Search for Lady Ingram’, Lena Cowen Orlin, Literature Compass 4 (2007), 10.1111/j.1741‐4113.2007.00425.x‘Working with Anonymity: A Theory of Theory vs. Archive’, Robert J. Griffin, Literature Compass 4 (2007), 10.1111/j.1741‐4113.2007.00426.xIt is a commonplace that sustained research in the archive has the potential to challenge and subvert received ideas in any field. But to allow this to happen, we must slow down our speed of processing material and allow anomalies to appear. Often, powerful yet faulty theories continue to be repeated when the evidence points elsewhere. One has not only to research an archive, one also has to be alert to the way previous interpretations have shaped one's own presuppositions. Only then do discoveries become discoveries by virtue of their status as anomalies. A careful consideration of the history of anonymous publication puts in question standard historical narratives about authorship and thus requires us to rethink our most ingrained assumptions and procedures for dealing with texts.
Measuring the Cost of Correctional Services
Authors: Richmond Mark S. 
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine major issues related to the concept of the offender as a consumer of resources. These perspectives should contribute to increased effectiveness of correctional planning and program manage ment. The immediate problem is two-fold: the costs of dealing with the offender are enormous and increasing and there are virtually no indications that present correctional methods are effective interventions in criminal careers. A complicating set of additional problems arises from the failure to define and synthesize the goals of criminal justice and correction. This paper proposes a number of goal-setting assumptions and illustrates cost-effectiveness approaches to program design. Im portani related questions of resource management are raised. The paper's thesis is that resource consumption must become goal-oriented rather than process-oriented.
How Police Use Information to Make Decisions
Authors: Sullivan Dennis C. , Siegel Larry J. 
Published: March 2007

Systematic study of the decision-making process at each critical stage of the criminal justice system has been limited. Specifically, little attention has been given to the decision-making of police on whether or not to process juveniles into and through the system. Even more remarkable is the lack of research on the types of information police use to arrive at their decisions. One device available for studying information handling in decision-making is the information or decision board developed by Leslie Wilkins. The technique simulates, as closely as possible, the real-life use of information and allows for rigorous experi mental conditions. By use of this technique, the decision- making of twenty-four policemen was studied—specifically, the amount and types of information each used to make a decision about a juvenile charged with drunk and disorderly conduct. The results show that police use more information to make a decision than is popularly believed. On the average, five pieces of information were selected before a decision was reached. The data also indicate that younger officers (less than five years on the job) tend to use nearly twice as much information as their more experienced counterparts (five or more years on the job) and that these two groups of officers do not always reach the same final decisions. Twenty-three of the twenty-four officers selected offense first, but the most critical topic for reaching a final decision was attitude of offender. Eighteen of the twenty-four officers made a decision when this piece of information was selected. Surprising ly, the piece of information race had little significance in the decision-making process. This study shows that the information board can be used effectively to examine the decision-making of police in their processing of juveniles. The data suggest that future studies may be able to identify types of decision-makers among police by examining their information-search profiles.
Marketing Aspects of Foamed Plastics in Asia with Particular Reference to Urethane Foam
Authors: Kawai Kenro 
Published: March 2007

Japan is the only Asiatic country today with a significant cellular plastics industry. Rubber foam production began there in 1950, followed during the 1950's by polystyrene, urethane, cellular vinyl, phenolic and urea foams. Flexible urethane and rigid polysty rene foams now dominate the market. Rubber foam is being replaced in bedding and cushioning by flexible urethane foam whereas rigid urethane foam is currently un successful due to high costs, difficult process ing and inflammability. Rigid polystyrene foam is used as insula tion, molded packaging and containers. Food packaging and laminating utilized polystyrene film. Cellular vinyl foam has no successful mar ket at present; foamed phenolics, brittle and expensive, have only selective uses and urea foam, limited by poor dimensional stability and mechanical strength, is restricted to sound-absorbing use.
Parameter Identification Using Quasi-Linearization
Authors: Galligani Ilio 
Published: March 2007

Identification problems are fundamental to science, engineering, and medicine. In such problems the characteristics of a system must be determined from observations. For example, in managing water re sources, we must determine the transmissivity of an aquifer from measurements of the underground water level at a number of wells. In this paper we describe the quasi-linearization method for solving the identification problem associated with a set of parabolic differential equa tions. For problems in two spatial dimensions, we discuss the computational aspects of the method, pay ing special attention to the case in which the para bolic equations have widely varying coefficients (i.e., they exhibit numerical dispersion). We apply this method to the problem of identifying transmis sivity for an underground water reservoir. This parameter identification problem is improperly posed. Finally, we present the results of numerical experi ments performed on some test problems.
A generalized simulator for computer networks
Authors: Chlamtac Imrich , Franta William R. 
Published: March 2007

A generalized network simulator has been constructed to help investigate the performance of computer networks at a variety of levels. The simulator accounts for user-host, host-node (a node is a communications interface unit), and node-node interactions. The program is highly modular so that the user can change one level without affecting the others; this structure allows for innovation and efficient experimentation. Model validation has been a major consideration in the develop ment of the simulator. We have employed a formal procedure to validate models at the input-output level by comparing them to simple lumped models for a given experimental frame. The simulator can handle a variety of network structures and protocols. A particular network is described in terms of a schedul ing function, a grouping function, and a distance control matrix. Several network topologies and protocols have been simulated successfully. One problem with the modular approach is that it may lead to inefficient programs. Our simulator, for example, had to perform many scans of its events list because of the existence of numerous simultaneous events. We removed this inefficiency by introduc ing a new event scheduling routine based on a secondary key. The secondary key assigns priorities to simultaneous events.
Hardware-in-the-loop simulation for an active missile
Authors: Sisle Mitchell E. , McCarthy Edward D. 
Published: March 2007

A hardware-in-the-loop simulation has been developed to eval uate the performance of active missiles from prelaunch to inter cept. The facility is used for system integration, design verifica tion, preflight and postflight analysis, and demonstrations of systems performance. A CDC Cyber 175 general-purpose computer interfaced with an Applied Dynamics International AD-10 multiprocessor solves the six-degree-of freedom simulation in real time. The simulation includes the target model, the missile model, and relative motion. The Cyber 175 also drives the model of the RF environment through a Hewlett Packard 1000 computer. The model of the RF environment provides the necessary phase and amplitude control to reproduce a 10-point glint model. The facility also can receive an active transmission and can supply four independent returns separated in range, angle, and velocity. The simulation has not yet undergone a formal validation program, but the facility results have been compared to an all- mathematical simulation of an active missile. Initial comparisons with flight results support the credibility of the facility.
Real-time microcomputer simulation for Space Shuttle/ Centaur avionics
Authors: Szatkowski G.P. , Nelander H.C. 
Published: March 2007

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has contracted with General Dynamics to design, de velop, and integrate into the Space Shuttle an advanced Cen taur liquid-fuel booster. This booster will be launched during orbit from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. Its first flights will carry the Galileo and International Solar Polar inter planetary spacecraft in 1986. Fault-tolerant airborne and ground-support equipment are being developed for the booster. Simulators will be used to test these new control systems. Each simulator uses a Z80-based microcomputer to emulate part of the system behavior, providing analog and digital feed back to the launch control computers. The simulators will provide real-time verification of the system's closed-loop control.
Optimal prepositioning of empty freight cars
Authors: Ratcliffe Larry L. , Vinod B. , Sparrow Fredrick T. 
Published: March 2007

The optimal utilization and distribution of empty freight cars has plagued the railroad industry in the past and will undoubt edly continue to do so in the future. In this paper we present the methodology for a simulation-optimization model, for the movement of empty freight cars in a hypothetical railroad transportation network. The freight car network is modelled in SLAM and integrated with XMP, a sophisticated and compact linear programming software package, to determine optimal movement and prepositioning of empty cars to the various nodes (terminals) in the network. The simulation model provides the required data structure for the XMP package to execute the transportation linear program and the stochastic linear program. The model is versatile and with the aid of reliable data, could prove to be a valuable tool for railroad managers and engineers.
Heat exchanger optimization in a crude preheat train
Authors: Ramsay Albert L , Khator Suresh K. 
Published: March 2007

Determining the sizes of heat exchangers which minimize the cost of a crude preheat train were investigated. SIMAN was used to simulate the system for different overdesign factors, and it was found out that the operating cost was minimized by maximiz ing the furnace coil outlet temperature. An overdesign factor of 10% yielded the best results; this is less than the 25% normally used in practice. This suggests that time- dependent simulation can lead to tighter control of overdesign in the design of process equipment under risk and uncertainty conditions. Time-dependent simulations are rarely used in the chemical process industry.