bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Progesterone induces nano‐scale molecular modifications on endometrial epithelial cell surfaces
Authors: Francis Lewis W. , Lewis Paul D. , Gonzalez Deyarina , Ryder Timothy A. , Webb Gordon , Joels Lisa A. , White John O. , Wright Chris J. , Conlan R. Steve 
Published: February 2009

Background information. The endometrial epithelial cell membrane is a key interface in female reproductive biology. Steroid hormones play a predominant role in cyclic changes which occur at this interface during the female menstrual cycle. Specific changes in the morphology of the endometrial epithelial cell surface become apparent with the epithelial transition that drives the switch from a non‐receptive to receptive surface due to the action of progesterone on an oestrogen primed tissue. AFM (atomic force microscopy) allows the high‐resolution characterization of the endometrial epithelial cell surface. Its contact probe mechanism enables a unique imaging method that requires little sample preparation, yielding topographical and morphological characterization. By stiffening the cell membrane, low concentrations of fixatives allow the surface detail of the cell to be resolved while preserving fine ultra‐structural details for analysis.Results. In the present study we use high resolution AFM analysis of endometrial epithelial cells to monitor the effect of progesterone on the nanoscale structure of the endometrial cell surface. High‐resolution imaging reveals similar topographical nanoscale changes in both the Hec‐1‐A and Ishikawa model cell lines. Hec‐1‐B cells, used in the present study as a progesterone receptor negative control, however, exhibit a flattened cell surface morphology following progesterone treatment. Changes in average cell height and surface convolution correlate with increased surface roughness measurements, demonstrating alterations in molecular structure on the cell surface due to hormonal stimulation.Conclusions. Progesterone treatment induces changes to the cell surface as a result of nanoscale molecular modifications in response to external hormonal treatments. AFM provides the basis for the identification, visualization and quantification of these cell surface nanoscale changes. Together these findings demonstrate the utility of AFM for use in reproductive science and cancer biology where it could be applied in both in vitro analysis of protein structure—function relationships and clinical diagnosis.
Lumbopelvic pain associated with catastrophizing and fear‐avoidance beliefs in early pregnancy
Authors: OLSSON CHRISTINA , BUER NINA , HOLM KERSTIN , NILSSON‐WIKMAR LENA 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective. To examine and compare levels of catastrophizing, fear‐avoidance beliefs, physical ability, and health‐related quality of life in women with and without lumbopelvic pain (LP and NLP) in early pregnancy. Design. A cross‐sectional study of early pregnancy. Setting. Five midwife clinics, one in the center, two in the outskirts of Stockholm, and two in a medium‐sized town. Population. Three hundred and twenty‐four women in the 19th–21st week of pregnancy. Methods. Questionnaires. Main outcome measures. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale of exaggerated negative thoughts about pain experiences, the Fear‐Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire of beliefs about how physical activity and work affect back pain, the Disability Rating Index of physical ability, and the Nottingham Health Profile to assess health‐related quality of life. Results. Two groups were defined: LP (n = 141) and NLP (n = 183). The Mann–Whitney U‐test was used for comparisons. Pregnant women with LP had significantly (p<0.05) higher levels of exaggerated negative thoughts and fear‐avoidance beliefs. They also had lower physical ability and health‐related quality of life compared to women in the NLP group. Conclusions. It is important to consider exaggerated negative thoughts about pain experiences and fear‐avoidance beliefs when treating women with LP during pregnancy and to be aware of the great impact lumbopelvic pain has on women's lives during early pregnancy.
Preoperative levels of plasma micronutrients are related to endometrial cancer risk
Authors: JEONG NAN‐HEE , SONG EUN‐SEOP , LEE JONG‐MIN , LEE KWANG‐BEOM , KIM MI‐KYUNG , YUN YOUNG‐MI , LEE JAE‐KWAN , SON SUNG‐KYONG , LEE JUNG‐PIL , KIM JAE‐HOON , HUR SOO‐YOUNG , KWON YONG‐IL 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective. To examine the relation between the plasma concentration of antioxidant micronutrients and endometrial cancer risk in Korean women. Design. Hospital‐based case–control study. Setting. Seven tertiary medical institutes in Korea. Population. Incidence of 28 endometrial cancer cases were identified and 140 age‐matched controls selected for the same period.Methods. Preoperative plasma concentrations of β‐carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin plus lutein, retinol, α‐tocopherol, and γ‐tocopherol were measured by reverse‐phase, gradient high‐pressure liquid chromatography. Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate micronutrient effect after adjustment for body mass index (BMI), menopause, parity, oral contraceptive use, smoking status, and alcohol consumption status.Main outcome measures. Effect of micronutrients on endometrial cancer risk.Results. The mean concentration of plasma β‐carotene (p = 0.001), lycopene (p = 0.008), zeaxanthin plus lutein (p = 0.031), retinol (p = 0.048), and γ‐tocopherol (p = 0.046) were significantly lower in endometrial cancer patients than in controls. Plasma levels of β‐carotene (p for trend = 0.0007) and lycopene (p for trend = 0.007) were inversely associated with endometrial cancer risk across tertiles. Women in the highest tertile of plasma β‐carotene and lycopene had a 0.12‐fold (95% confidence intervals (CIs) 0.03–0.48) and 0.15‐fold (95% CIs 0.04–0.61) decreased risk of endometrial cancer compared to women in the lowest tertile, respectively. Other micronutrients such as zeaxanthin plus lutein (p for trend = 0.142), retinol (p for trend = 0.108), α‐tocopherol (p for trend = 0.322), and γ‐tocopherol (p for trend = 0.087) showed no association with endometrial cancer risk.Conclusions. Plasma levels of β‐carotene and lycopene are inversely associated with the risk of endometrial cancer in Korean women.
Clinical profile of menopausal insomniac women referred to sleep laboratory
Authors: HACHUL HELENA , BRANDÃO LETÍCIA DE C. , BITTENCOURT LIA R.A. , D'ALMEIDA VÂNIA , ANDERSEN MONICA L. , BARACAT EDMUND C. , TUFIK SERGIO 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the overall clinical profile of menopausal women complaining of insomnia who were referred to a sleep laboratory. Methods. A total of 206 menopausal women who had complaints related to insomnia were interviewed. Each participant completed a questionnaire in order to obtain data on general health, menopausal status, medications, and sleep patterns. Results. The mean age of the participants was 55.9 years. Clinical profiles revealed that the most prevalent health problems were systemic arterial hypertension (33.9%) and osteoporosis (19%), though there was no association between insomnia and incidence of chronic disease. Our data demonstrate an overall prevalence of insomnia of 4–5 times a week in 62% of the women, with 68.9% complaining of hot flashes. However, there was no association between hot flashes and frequency of insomnia across the menopausal transition period. Only 7% of women had already undergone polysomnography. Less than 5% of the participants were undergoing treatment for menopause, while 8% were taking benzodiazepines for sleep problems. Conclusions. This study provides evidence that insomnia in postmenopausal women was not associated with incidence of chronic disease. In addition, the majority of the participants were not undergoing treatment for menopause or for sleep disturbance.
Ultrasound assessment of the prognosis in triplet pregnancies
Authors: GUILHERME ROMAIN , LE RAY CAMILLE , VUILLARD EDITH , GAREL CATHERINE , DELEZOIDE ANNE‐LISE , OURY JEAN‐FRANÇOIS , LUTON DOMINIQUE 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective. To assess the diagnostic accuracy and show the prognostic influence of different ultrasonographic criteria in triplet pregnancies(TP). Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Tertiary care center in France. Population. Fifty‐one consecutive TP in which at least one of the children, live‐ or stillborn, weighed 500 g or more, and with a gestation period of at least 22 weeks. Methods. Chorionicity, abnormal umbilical artery Doppler waveforms, intrauterine weight (IUW) <10th centile and prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomaly were studied simultaneously as prognostic criteria. Chorionicity was confirmed at birth by placental pathology. Main outcome measures. Diagnosis of chorionicity/amnionicity and IUW <10th centile. Neonatal intensive care unit admission, occurrence of respiratory distress syndrome and perinatal mortality. Results. Prenatal misclassification of chorionicity/amnionicity after postnatal perinatal pathology review was 12%. The positive predictive value of IUW <10th centile diagnosis was 44% for the prediction of birthweight <10th centile. Prenatal diagnosis of mono‐ or dichorionic placentation was associated with increased neonatal morbidity in comparison with that of trichorionic triplets. Perinatal mortality was significantly increased where mono‐ or dichorionic placentation was diagnosed prenatally (OR: 4.2; CI: 1.04–17), IUW <10th centile (OR: 10; CI: 2.4–41), with raised odds for abnormal umbilical Doppler measurements (OR: 9.7; CI: 2–47) and fetal anomaly (OR: 6.4; CI: 1.4–28.9). Conclusion. Early prenatal diagnosis of chorionicity is of major importance in triplet pregnancy. Experienced sonographers must quickly evaluate any uncertain diagnosis. In cases of unknown chorionicity, other ultrasonographic criteria can highlight high‐risk triplet pregnancy, but at a later stage.
The influence of preoperative vaginal cleansing on postoperative infectious morbidity in abdominal total hysterectomy for benign indications
Authors: KJØLHEDE PREBEN , HALILI SHEFQET , LÖFGREN MATS 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective. To evaluate whether vaginal cleansing reduces the risk of postoperative infection after abdominal total hysterectomy on benign indications and to analyze risk factors. Design. Retrospective cohort study. Setting. All clinics including patients in the Swedish National Register for Gynecological Surgery. Population. All 7,193 women who underwent abdominal total hysterectomy for benign indications from 2000 to 2007. Methods. Information on clinic routines for preoperative vaginal cleansing was obtained retrospectively in a postal survey. Associations between routines for vaginal cleansing and structured data from the Register were analyzed by means of multivariate logistic regression models. The main effect variable was postoperative infections defined as infections treated with antibiotics within six to eight weeks postoperatively, reported by the patient or the physician. Main outcome measures. Prevalence and risk factors for postoperative infections. Results. Prevalence of postoperative infections was 14.4%. The prevalence did not differ between those having had vaginal cleansing using chlorhexidine and those without vaginal cleansing, whereas using saline solution was encumbered with a significantly increased risk. Risk factors for postoperative infections were age >60, obesity, smoking, weight of the uterus, duration of hospital stay, blood transfusion, and peroperative injury of the urinary bladder or ureter. Conclusion. Vaginal cleansing using chlorhexidine solution did not reduce the risk of postoperative infections, whereas vaginal cleansing using saline solution seemed to increase the risk. Some risk factors for postoperative infectious morbidity seem to be preventable.
Comprehensive optimization process of paranasal sinus radiography
Authors: Saarakkala S. , Nironen K. , Hermunen H. , Aarnio J. , Heikkinen J.O. 
Published: February 2009

Background: The optimization of radiological examinations is important in order to reduce unnecessary patient radiation exposure. Purpose: To perform a comprehensive optimization process for paranasal sinus radiography at Mikkeli Central Hospital, Finland. Material and Methods: Patients with suspicion of acute sinusitis were imaged with a Kodak computed radiography (CR) system ( n=20) and with a Philips digital radiography (DR) system ( n=30) using focus-detector distances (FDDs) of 110 cm, 150 cm, or 200 cm. Patients’ radiation exposure was determined in terms of entrance surface dose and dose-area product. Furthermore, an anatomical phantom was used for the estimation of point doses inside the head. Clinical image quality was evaluated by an experienced radiologist, and physical image quality was evaluated from the digital radiography phantom. Results: Patient doses were significantly lower and image quality better with the DR system compared to the CR system. The differences in patient dose and physical image quality were small with varying FDD. Clinical image quality of the DR system was lowest with FDD of 200 cm. Further, imaging with FDD of 150 cm was technically easier for the technologist to perform than with FDD of 110 cm. Conclusion: After optimization, it was recommended that the DR system with FDD of 150 cm should always be used at Mikkeli Central Hospital. We recommend this kind of comprehensive approach in all optimization processes of radiological examinations.
Array-based genotyping inS.cerevisiaeusing semi-supervised clustering
Authors: Bourgon Richard , Mancera Eugenio , Brozzi Alessandro , Steinmetz Lars M. , Huber Wolfgang 
Published: February 2009

AbstractMotivation: Microarrays provide an accurate and cost-effective method for genotyping large numbers of individuals at high resolution. The resulting data permit the identification of loci at which genetic variation is associated with quantitative traits, or fine mapping of meiotic recombination, which is a key determinant of genetic diversity among individuals. Several issues inherent to short oligonucleotide arrays—cross-hybridization, or variability in probe response to target—have the potential to produce genotyping errors. There is a need for improved statistical methods for array-based genotyping.Results: We developed ssGenotyping (ssG), a multivariate, semi-supervised approach for using microarrays to genotype haploid individuals at thousands of polymorphic sites. Using a meiotic recombination dataset, we show that ssG is more accurate than existing supervised classification methods, and that it produces denser marker coverage. The ssG algorithm is able to fit probe-specific affinity differences and to detect and filter spurious signal, permitting high-confidence genotyping at nucleotide resolution. We also demonstrate that oligonucleotide probe response depends significantly on genomic background, even when the probe's specific target sequence is unchanged. As a result, supervised classifiers trained on reference strains may not generalize well to diverged strains; ssG's semi-supervised approach, on the other hand, adapts automatically.Availability: The ssGenotyping software is implemented in R. It is currently available for download (www.ebi.ac.uk/∼bourgon/yeast_genotyping/ssG) and is being submitted to Bioconductor.Contact: bourgon@ebi.ac.ukSupplementary information: Supplementary data and a version including color figures are available at Bioinformatics online.
The ruggedness of protein–protein energy landscape and the cutoff for 1/r
n potentials
Authors: Ruvinsky Anatoly M. , Vakser Ilya A. 
Published: February 2009

Abstract
Motivation: Computational studies of the energetics of protein association are important for revealing the underlying fundamental principles and for designing better tools to model protein complexes. The interaction cutoff contribution to the ruggedness of protein–protein energy landscape is studied in terms of relative energy fluctuations for 1/rn potentials based on a simplistic model of a protein complex. This artificial ruggedness exists for short cutoffs and gradually disappears with the cutoff increase.
Results: The critical values of the cutoff were calculated for each of 11 popular power-type potentials with n=0÷9, 12 and for two thresholds of 5% and 10%. The artificial ruggedness decreases to tolerable thresholds for cutoffs larger than the critical ones. The results showed that for both thresholds the critical cutoff is a non-monotonic function of the potential power n. The functions reach the maximum at n=3÷4 and then decrease with the increase of the potential power. The difference between two cutoffs for 5% and 10% artificial ruggedness becomes negligible for potentials decreasing faster than 1/r12. The analytical results obtained for the simple model of protein complexes agree with the analysis of artificial ruggedness in a dataset of 62 protein–protein complexes, with different parameterizations of soft Lennard–Jones potential and two types of protein representations: all-atom and coarse-grained. The results suggest that cutoffs larger than the critical ones can be recommended for protein–protein potentials.
Contact: vakser@ku.edu
Localization of individual mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) within a spawning aggregation and their behaviour throughout a diel spawning period
Authors: Parsons Miles J. , McCauley Robert D. , Mackie Michael C. , Siwabessy Paulus , Duncan Alec J. 
Published: February 2009

Abstract
Parsons, M. J., McCauley, R. D., Mackie, M. C., Siwabessy, P., and Duncan, A. J. 2009. Localization of individual mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) within a spawning aggregation and their behaviour throughout a diel spawning period. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1007–1014. Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) are a soniferous member of the Sciaenidae. During summer in the Swan River of Western Australia, individuals form spawning aggregations in turbid waters around high tide, during late afternoon and early evening. Mulloway produce pulsed vocalizations that are characteristic of the species and to an extent of individuals. Crepuscular passive acoustic recordings of vocalizing mulloway were collected from a four-hydrophone array during March 2008. Arrival-time differences proved the most robust technique for localization. Corroboration of fish position was observed in relative energy levels of calls, surface-reflected path differences, and relative range of successive calls by individuals. Discrete vocal characteristics of the tone-burst frequency and sound-pressure levels assisted the determination of caller identification. Calibration signals were located within a mean distance of 3.4 m. Three-dimensional locations, together with error estimates, were produced for 213 calls during a sample 4-min period in which 495 calls were audible. Examples are given of the movement and related errors for several fish successfully tracked from their vocalizations. Localization confirmed variations in calling rates by individuals, calling altitudes, and the propensity to vary call structure significantly over short periods, hitherto unreported in this species.
Room-temperature scavengers for macromolecular crystallography: increased lifetimes and modified dose dependence of the intensity decay
Authors: Barker Adam I. , Southworth-Davies Robert J. , Paithankar Karthik S. , Carmichael Ian , Garman Elspeth F. 
Published: February 2009

The advent of highly intense wiggler and undulator beamlines has reintroduced the problem of X-ray radiation damage in protein crystals even at cryogenic temperatures (100 K). Although cryocrystallography can be utilized for the majority of protein crystals, certain macromolecular crystals (e.g. of viruses) suffer large increases in mosaicity upon flash cooling and data are still collected at room temperature (293 K). An alternative mechanism to cryocooling for prolonging crystal lifetime is the use of radioprotectants. These compounds are able to scavenge the free radical species formed upon X-ray irradiation which are thought to be responsible for part of the observed damage. Three putative radioprotectants, ascorbate, 1,4-benzoquinone and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone (TEMP), were tested for their ability to prolong lysozyme crystal lifetimes at 293 K. Plots of relative summed intensity against dose were used as a metric to assess radioprotectant ability: ascorbate and 1,4-benzoquinone appear to be effective, whereas studies on TEMP were inconclusive. Ascorbate, which scavenges OH^{\bullet} radicals (k
OH = 8 × 109 M
−1 s−1) and electrons with a lower rate constant (k
e-(aq) = 3.0 × 108 M
−1 s−1), doubled the crystal dose tolerance, whereas 1,4-benzoquinone, which also scavenges both OH^{\bullet} radicals (k
OH = 1.2 × 109 M
−1 s−1) and electrons (k
e-(aq) = 1.2 × 1010 M
−1 s−1), offered a ninefold increase in dose tolerance at the dose rates used. Pivotally, these preliminary results on a limited number of samples show that the two scavengers also induced a striking change in the dose dependence of the intensity decay from a first-order to a zeroth-order process.
Yolk sac tumor but not seminoma or teratoma is associated with abnormal epigenetic reprogramming pathway and shows frequent hypermethylation of various tumor suppressor genes
Authors: Furukawa Shinsuke , Haruta Masayuki , Arai Yasuhito , Honda Shohei , Ohshima Junjiro , Sugawara Waka , Kageyama Yukio , Higashi Yotsuo , Nishida Kazunori , Tsunematsu Yukiko , Nakadate Hisaya , Ishii Masahiro , Kaneko Yasuhiko 
Published: February 2009

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are thought to arise from primordial germ cells (PGCs) that undergo epigenetic reprogramming: erasure of the somatic imprint in the genital ridge, and re‐establishment of the sex‐specific imprint at gametogenesis in the developing gonad. Previous studies suggested that GCTs show epigenetic patterns reflecting the reprogramming process of PGCs; however, epigenetic alterations of imprinted genes and their relationship with the methylation status of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) have not been comprehensively studied. We analyzed the methylation status of the H19 and SNRPN differential methylated regions (DMRs) and the promoter region of 17 TSGs, and the expression status of H19, IGF2 and SNRPN in 45 GCTs, and found that 25 and 20 were in the normal and abnormal reprogramming pathways, respectively, defined on the basis of the methylation status of the two DMRs and the anatomical tumor site. The methylation pattern of the H19 and SNRPN DMRs was total erasure in seminomas, mostly physiological in teratomas, and various in yolk sac tumors. There were no correlations between the methylation status of the H19 DMR and mono‐ or biallelic expression of H19 or IGF2. Furthermore, we found that yolk sac tumors had a higher number of methylated TSGs than seminomas (P < 0.001) teratomas (P = 0.004) or other childhood tumors. While TSG methylation was known to have prognostic implications in various cancers, it did not affect the outcomes of patients with yolk sac tumor, suggesting that mechanisms of TSG methylation may be different between yolk sac tumor and other cancers. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 698–708)