bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Herbivory‐induced signalling in plants: perception and action
Authors: WU JIANQIANG , BALDWIN IAN T. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTPlants and herbivores have been interacting for millions of years. Over time, plants have evolved mechanisms to defend against herbivore attacks. Herbivore‐challenged plants reconfigure their metabolism to produce compounds that are toxic, repellant or anti‐digestive for the herbivores. Some compounds are volatile signals that attract the predators of herbivores. All these responses are tightly regulated by a signalling network triggered by the plant's perception machinery. Several compounds that specifically elicit herbivory‐induced responses in plants have been isolated from herbivore oral secretions and oviposition fluids. Elicitor perception is rapidly followed by cell membrane depolarization, calcium influx and mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation; plants also elevate the concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and modulate phytohormone levels accordingly. In addition to these reactions in the herbivore‐attacked regions of a leaf, defence responses are also mounted in unattacked parts of the attacked leaf and as well in unattacked leaves. In this review, we summarize recent progress in understanding how plants recognize herbivory, the involvement of several important signalling pathways that mediate the responses to herbivore attack and the signals that transduce local into systemic responses.
Differential Expression of Immune Genes in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) Challenged Intraperitoneally or by Cohabitation with IPNV
Authors: Ingerslev H.‐C. , Rønneseth A. , Pettersen E. F. , Wergeland H. I. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAtlantic salmon smolts challenged intraperitoneally (ip) and by cohabitation with a highly virulent strain of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus showed strong activation of important immune genes in spleen, liver, head‐kidney and gill measured by real‐time quantitative PCR. The genes investigated were IL‐1β, IL‐10, IFN‐α, IFN‐γ, Mx, MHC‐I, MHC‐II, TCR‐α, CD8‐α and mIgM. A low final cumulative mortality of about 10% was seen in the ip‐challenged group, while more than 40% of the cohabitants died in the sampling period. Sampling was performed at day 15, 24 and 37 post ip‐challenge. Overall, the expression of the investigated genes varied highly. The expression of IL‐1β, IL‐10, MHC‐II, TCR‐α, CD8‐α and mIgM showed more or less the same patterns between the two groups of fish by being significantly upregulated at day 24 post ip‐challenge. However, the degree of regulation varied a lot among the genes. A pattern showing differences between ip‐challenged and cohabitants were seen for IFN‐γ and especially IFN‐α, where the upregulation seemed to last longer for the cohabitants. The Mx gene was the most induced gene, but also the one with highest individual variance. Mx but also MHC‐I were both still highly upregulated at the last sampling point within both groups of fish. The results seem to indicate that the differences in expression pattern(s) could reflect the different routes of entrance of the virus into the fish. This could maybe explain the different kinetics in the onset and the degree of mortality or the potential different molecular mechanisms used for combating the virus.
Activity of α2,6‐Sialyltransferase and its Gene Expression in Peripheral B Lymphocytes in Patients with IgA Nephropathy
Authors: Ding J.‐X. , Xu L.‐X. , Zhu L. , Lv J.‐C. , Zhao M.‐H. , Zhang H. , Wang H.‐Y. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIt is known that aberrant sialylation of IgA1 is involved in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We hypothesize that aberrant sialylation of serum IgA1 may result from changes in the activity of α2,6‐sialyltransferase (α2,6‐ST) or expression of its coding gene ST6GALNAC2 in peripheral B lymphocytes. Sixty patients with IgAN and 20 healthy controls were enrolled. Peripheral B lymphocytes were isolated by CD‐19‐positive magnetic beads. The expression level of ST6GALNAC2 was quantitatively analysed by real‐time reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Serum IgA1 and sialylation levels were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and specific lectin‐binding ELISA. Activity of α2,6‐ST was measured by specific lectin‐binding ELISA. Expression of ST6GALNAC2 in B peripheral lymphocytes was significantly lower in patients with IgAN than that in normal controls (3.7 ± 2.2 versus 6.3 ± 2.3, P = 0.016); α2,6‐ST activity in B lymphocytes was correlated positively with the level of α2,6‐sialic acid in serum IgA1 in patients (n = 42) and controls (n = 12) (r = 0.37, P = 0.007). However, α2,6‐ST activity did not differ between patients with IgAN and controls (1.19 ± 1.43 versus 1.06 ± 1.17, P > 0.05). These data suggested that reduced sialylation of serum IgA1 may result from decreased expression of ST6GALNAC2. The factors affecting activity of α2,6‐ST in the sialylation of IgA1 need to be further investigated.
Additive role of tiotropium in severe asthmatics and Arg16Gly in ADRB2 as a potential marker to predict response
Authors: Park H.‐W. , Yang M.‐S. , Park C.‐S. , Kim T.‐B. , Moon H.‐B. , Min K.‐U. , Kim Y.‐Y. , Cho S.‐H. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  Recent findings have raised new interests about the use of anticholinergics, especially tiotropium, for the treatment of asthma. This study was performed to determine whether an additional improvement in lung function is obtained when tiotropium is administrated in addition to conventional therapies in severe asthmatics, and to identify factors capable of predicting the response to tiotropium, using a pharmacogenetic approach.Methods:  A total of 138 severe asthmatics on conventional medications and with decreased lung function were randomly recruited. Tiotropium 18 μg was added once a day and lung functions were measured every 4 weeks. Responders were defined as those with an improvement of ≥15% (or 200 ml) in the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) that was maintained for at least 8 successive weeks. Eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CHRM1–3 (coding muscarinic receptors one to three) which were identified by re‐sequencing, and Arg16Gly and Gln27Glu in ADRB2 (coding β2 adrenoreceptor) were scored in 80 of the 138 asthmatics.Results:  Forty‐six of the 138 asthmatics (33.3%) responded to tiotropium treatment. Logistic regression analyses (controlled for age, gender, and smoking status) showed that Arg16Gly in ADRB2 [P = 0.003, OR (95% CI) = 0.21 (0.07–0.59) in a minor allele–dominant model] was significantly associated with response to tiotropium.Conclusions:  As many as 30% of severe asthmatics on conventional medications with reduced lung function were found to respond to adjuvant tiotropium. The presence of Arg16Gly in ADRB2 may predict response to tiotropium.
Current knowledge of host response in human tinea
Authors: Brasch J. 
Published: January 2009

SummarySkin infection caused by dermatophytes is called tinea. In this short review, the known mechanisms and factors involved in human tinea and important for the host response are briefly delineated. To establish tinea, fungal propagules must attach to the skin, germinate and overcome the epidermal barrier. Keratinases and other enzymes are released in this process and host keratinocytes are activated. This is followed by an inflammatory response mediated by a plentitude of cytokines and receptors, comprising innate as well as acquired immunity, including neutrophilic granulocytes, macrophages, antibodies and T cells. Cellular defence mechanisms appear to be decisive for clearing of infection. Nails and hair follicles are the particular sites often invaded by dermatophytes that show distinctive patterns of infection. Nails are largely excluded from defence mechanisms and steroid hormones of the pilosebaceous units may have a particular effect on follicular infection. Fungal invasion of the dermis can cause granulomatous reactions. Immune reactions to dermatophytes may lead to sterile eruptions distant from the infected skin areas.
Azoles and antidepressants: a mini‐review of the tolerability of co‐administration
Authors: Roussos P. , Lewis R. E. , Kontoyiannis D. P. 
Published: January 2009

SummaryDepression is a common condition in chronically ill immunosuppressed patients on long‐term antifungal therapy with azoles. As both azoles and more recent antifungals are metabolised by the P450 enzymatic system in the liver, here we review the potential of clinically meaningful interactions between antidepressants and azoles. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are safer compared to tricycle antidepressants when co‐administered with azoles. More pharmacovigilance is needed.
Should Brazilian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection be vaccinated against hepatitis A virus?
Authors: Villar Livia M , De Melo Maria MM , Calado Izabelle A , De Almeida Adilson J , Lampe Elisabeth , Gaspar Ana MC 
Published: January 2009

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Hepatitis A virus (HAV) superinfection is associated with a high risk of liver failure and death in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of serological and molecular HAV markers in a population of HCV‐infected patients in order to determine a cost‐effective strategy to vaccinate against HAV.Methods:  The presence of total and immunoglobulin (Ig)M anti‐HAV antibodies was investigated in 399 patients (median age, 50 years; range, 4–81) referred to the Public Health Central Laboratory of Pernambuco State who tested positive for anti‐HCV antibodies and HCV RNA. HAV RNA was investigated by reverse transcription‐nested polymerase chain reaction in these patients.Results:  Three hundred and eighty‐four (96%) patients were positive for anti‐HAV total and negative for IgM anti‐HAV antibodies (immune patients). Three patients had IgM (and total) anti‐HAV antibodies, showing an acute infection, and two of them had HAV RNA detected in serum samples. HAV RNA was also found in another patient in the absence of detectable anti‐HAV antibodies. By nucleotide sequencing, it was demonstrated that the HAV isolates infecting these patients belonged to subgenotype 1B.Conclusion:  This study provides valuable new data on anti‐HAV prevalence among HCV carriers in Brazil. In the present study, we found a high proportion of patients with anti‐HAV positivity, indicating that anti‐HAV testing of HCV‐infected patients is a cost‐effective strategy and should be carried out before vaccination against HAV in these patients, particularly in regions such as our geographical area with high total anti‐HAV prevalence.
Colonoscopy: Art or science?
Authors: Roberts‐Thomson Ian C , Teo Edward 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe focus on colorectal neoplasia has led to an exponential increase in the use of colonoscopy in many countries. Although colonoscopy facilitates the diagnosis and treatment of colonic disease, there are public health issues that include access, training, diagnostic accuracy, complications and additions to health‐care costs. Because of this, colonoscopists have a responsibility to ensure that the procedure is appropriate, safe and of high‐quality. This article addresses the issue of variation in technical skills that is known to exist within the endoscopic community, even among individuals with similar experience. While some of this variation reflects innate manual dexterity, another aspect is variation in the adoption of technical manoeuvers that facilitate various aspects of the procedure including rates for cecal intubation. Although technical manoeuvers are difficult to evaluate in controlled trials, there is persuasive data that high cecal intubation rates can be achieved by minimizing inflation and looping in the sigmoid colon and by the appropriate use of positional changes and abdominal pressure. In difficult settings, there is also benefit from the use of non‐standard endoscopes and various accessories including overtubes.
Anesthesia in children with mastocytosis – a case based review
Authors: AHMAD NARGIS , EVANS PHILIPPA , LLOYD‐THOMAS ADRIAN R. 
Published: January 2009

SummaryIntroduction:  Mastocytosis is a rare heterogeneous disease of bone marrow origin which arises as a consequence of abnormal growth and/or accumulation of clonal mast cells in one or more organs. Sixty‐five percent of patients with mastocytosis are children in whom it usually regresses around puberty. Adult patients with mastocytosis have been identified as at high risk of widespread mast cell degranulation in the perioperative period, this finding has not been reported in pediatric patients. This information has been repeated in mastocytosis websites where it has the potential to cause disproportionate alarm in parents.Methods:  We considered our experience of six children with mastocytosis together with a review of the literature to examine other reports of anesthesia in children with mastocytosis. Our literature search found 57 general anesthetics in 39 children with mastocytosis. In addition, we searched for information about current consensus in diagnosis, classification and treatment of mastocytosis and in vitro and in vivo studies looking at mast cell behavior in response to drugs commonly used during anesthesia.Discussion:  The literature search revealed that general anesthesia has precipitated life threatening complications in adult patients with systemic mastocytosis (SM) but no such complications have been described in children with mastocytosis. Our own experience with children with mastocytosis is of uneventful anesthesia. Advances in the understanding of the genetic basis of mastocytosis suggest that pediatric cutaneous mastocytosis (CM) and SM are different entities. SM in children is extremely rare and is associated with elevated baseline serum tryptase. There are few reports of anesthesia in this group.Conclusion:  The risks for most pediatric patients are overstated by mastocytosis websites. Most pediatric patients with CM do not appear to be at risk of widespread mast cell degranulation during anesthesia but because of the small number of cases reported, the risk cannot be ascertained with confidence. Children with SM and a high baseline serum tryptase (marker of mast cell burden) may merit extra precautions but experience in this subgroup is even more limited. Drugs which cause minimal histamine release can be selected from the range of drugs available in most pediatric centers without compromise to technique.
Biomarkers of body iron stores and risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Authors: Rajpathak S. N. , Wylie‐Rosett J. , Gunter M. J. , Negassa A. , Kabat G. C. , Rohan T. E. , Crandall J. ,   Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) Research Group
Published: January 2009

Aim:  Iron may contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) by inducing oxidative stress and interfering with insulin secretion. Elevated ferritin levels are associated with increased DM risk among healthy individuals. However, it is yet unknown if ferritin predicts DM incidence among high‐risk individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Furthermore, the association between soluble transferrin receptors (sTfR), a novel marker of iron status, and DM risk has not yet been prospectively investigated in these individuals. We conducted this study to evaluate the association between baseline levels of ferritin and sTfR and the risk of developing DM among overweight and obese individuals at high risk of DM.Methods:  This nested case–control study (280 cases and 280 matched controls) was conducted within the placebo arm of the Diabetes Prevention Program, is a clinical trial conducted among overweight/obese individuals with IGT. Ferritin and sTfR levels were measured by immunoturbidimetric assays. Incident DM was ascertained by annual 75‐g oral glucose tolerance test and semi‐annual fasting glucose.Results:  Compared with controls, cases had higher sTfR levels (3.50 ± 0.07 vs. 3.30 ± 0.06 mg/l; p = 0.03), but ferritin levels were not statistically different. The multivariable odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for DM incidence comparing highest with the lowest quartiles of sTfR was 2.26 (1.37–4.01) (p‐trend: 0.008).Conclusions:  Modestly elevated sTfR levels are associated with increased DM risk among overweight and obese individuals with IGT. Future studies should evaluate factors determining sTfR levels and examine if interventions that lower body iron stores reduce DM incidence.
NATURALISM WITHOUT TEARS
Authors: Lenman James 
Published: January 2009

AbstractParfit argues that naturalistic theories that seek to understand normative concepts either as simply descriptive of certain natural facts about our desires or as expressive of our desires commit us to a bleak normative nihilism whereby nothing matters. I here defend such naturalism, in particular its expressivist variety, against this charge. It is true that such views commit us to there being no reasons as Parfit understands them. But for Parfit to suppose that equivalent to there being no reasons leaves him begging the question where the relative credibility of these rival understandings is just what is at issue.1
THE DYNAMICS OF LABOUR'S INCOME SHARES AND THE WAGE CURVE–PHILLIPS CURVE CONTROVERSY
Authors: Madsen Jakob B. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTBased on a re‐parameterised Blanchflower–Oswald model this paper uses long macro‐data from the OECD countries to discriminate between the Philips curve and the wage curve and examines whether there are any differences in wage dynamics between Europe and the United States. The evidence gives support for the Phillips curve and shows that wage dynamics are no different between the United States and Europe.
ELECTORAL MOTIVES, PARTISAN MOTIVES AND DYNAMIC OPTIMALITY WITH MANY TAXES: AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION
Authors: Christopoulos Dimitris K. , Loizides John , Tsionas Efthymios G. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we argue that tax‐smoothing results based on total tax revenues may be of limited importance if in fact governments are concerned with the inter‐temporal distortionary effects of many kinds of taxes, when electoral and partisan motives also have to be taken into account. We develop an inter‐temporal model that predicts that tax revenue mix should follow random walks. The model is tested with international data using both time series and panel‐based unit root tests. We find that during the examined period, 1973–2003, governments are not optimizing tax components in the sense of Barro.
WORKERS' ENTERPRISES AND THE TASTE FOR PRODUCTION: THE ARTS, SPORT AND OTHER CASES
Authors: Cuccia Tiziana , Cellini Roberto 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper shows that the standard result according to which labour‐managed (LM) firms produce a lower amount of output, as compared with profit‐maximizing firms, is reversed if production per se gives utility and the workers' membership of LM firms is set before market decisions. Under the same hypotheses, the LM firms set a higher product quality than the profit‐oriented ones,ceteris paribus. The considered hypotheses are appropriate in several sectors, but they are particularly relevant in the case of the performing arts.
Segmenting Bacterial and Viral DNA Sequence Alignments with a Trans-Dimensional Phylogenetic Factorial Hidden Markov Model
Authors: Lehrach Wolfgang P. , Husmeier Dirk 
Published: January 2009

SummaryThe traditional approach to phylogenetic inference assumes that a single phylogenetic tree can represent the relationships and divergence between the taxa. However, taxa sequences exhibit varying levels of conservation, e.g. because of regulatory elements and active binding sites. Also, certain bacteria and viruses undergo interspecific recombination, where different strains exchange or transfer DNA subsequences, leading to a tree topology change. We propose a phylogenetic factorial hidden Markov model to detect recombination and rate variation simultaneously. This is applied to two DNA sequence alignments: one bacterial (Neisseria) and another of type 1 human immunodeficiency virus. Inference is carried out in the Bayesian framework, using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling.
Bayesian Dose Finding in Oncology For Drug Combinations by Copula Regression
Authors: Yin Guosheng , Yuan Ying 
Published: January 2009

Summary
Treating patients with a combination of agents is becoming commonplace in cancer clinical trials, with biochemical synergism often the primary focus. In a typical drug combination trial, the toxicity profile of each individual drug has already been thoroughly studied in single-agent trials, which naturally offers rich prior information. We propose a Bayesian adaptive design for dose finding that is based on a copula-type model to account for the synergistic effect of two or more drugs in combination. To search for the maximum tolerated dose combination, we continuously update the posterior estimates for the toxicity probabilities of the combined doses. By reordering the dose toxicities in the two-dimensional probability space, we adaptively assign each new cohort of patients to the most appropriate dose. Dose escalation, de-escalation or staying at the same doses is determined by comparing the posterior estimates of the probabilities of toxicity of combined doses and the prespecified toxicity target. We conduct extensive simulation studies to examine the operating characteristics of the design and illustrate the proposed method under various practical scenarios.
Strategic Tax Competition in Switzerland: Evidence from a Panel of the Swiss Cantons
Authors: Feld Lars P. , Reulier Emmanuelle 
Published: January 2009

AbstractTax competition is discussed as a source of inefficiency in international taxation and in fiscal federalism. Two preconditions for the existence of such effects of tax competition are that mobile factors locate or reside in jurisdictions with - ceteris paribus - lower tax rates, and that taxes are actually set strategically in order to attract mobile production factors. It is well known from studies about Swiss cantonal and local income tax competition that Swiss taxpayers reside where income taxes are low. In this paper, empirical results on strategic tax setting by cantonal governments are presented for a panel of the Swiss cantons from 1984 to 1999. Completing the evidence on Swiss tax competition, income tax rates in cantons are the lower, the lower the tax rates of their neighbors.
Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Taxes
Authors: De Santis Roberto A. , Stähler Frank 
Published: January 2009

Abstract
This paper studies the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on environmental policy stringency in a two-country model with trade costs, where FDI could be unilateral and bilateral and both governments address local pollution through environmental taxes. We show that FDI does not give rise to ecological dumping because the host country has an incentive to shift rents away from the source country toward the host country. Environmental policy strategies and welfare effects are studied under the assumption that parameter values support FDI to be profitable.