bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of a smoothing‐splines‐based correction method for improving the analysis of CEST‐MR images
Authors: Stancanello J. , Terreno E. , Castelli D. Delli , Cabella C. , Uggeri F. , Aime S. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractChemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging is an emerging MRI technique relying on the use of endogenous or exogenous molecules containing exchangeable proton pools. The heterogeneity of the water resonance frequency offset plays a key role in the occurrence of artifacts in CEST‐MR images. To limit this drawback, a new smoothing‐splines‐based method for fitting and correcting Z‐spectra in order to compensate for low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) without any a priori model was developed. Global and local voxel‐by‐voxel Z‐spectra were interpolated by smoothing splines with smoothing terms aimed at suppressing noise. Thus, a map of the water frequency offset (‘zero’ map) was used to correctly calculate the saturation transfer (ST) for each voxel. Simulations were performed to compare the method to polynomials and zero‐only‐corrected splines on the basis of SNR improvement. In vitro acquisitions of capillaries containing solutions of LIPOCEST agents at different concentrations were performed to experimentally validate the results from simulations. Additionally, ex vivo investigations of bovine muscle mass injected with LIPOCEST agents were performed as a function of increasing pulse power. The results from simulations and experiments highlighted the importance of a proper ‘zero’ correction (15% decrease of fictitious CEST signal in phantoms and ex vivo preparations) and proved the method to be more accurate compared with the previously published ones, often providing a SNR higher than 5 in different simulated and experimentally noisy conditions. In conclusion, the proposed method offers an accurate tool in CEST investigation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A population‐based study of prevalence of complementary methods use by cancer survivors
Authors: Gansler Ted , Kaw Chiewkwei , Crammer Corinne , Smith Tenbroeck 
Published: August 2008

AbstractBACKGROUND.The use of complementary methods (CMs) is widespread and increasing in the United States. Most literature on CM use among cancer survivors focuses on the treatment period, whereas only a few studies address use further along the cancer continuum.METHODS.This study analyzed the prevalence and the medical and demographic associations of CM use among cancer survivors surveyed 10 to 24 months after diagnosis. The study's sample—4139 survivors of 1 of 10 adult cancers—was selected from stratified random samples provided by statewide cancer registries and surveyed by mail and telephone. Three logistic regression models examined associations between medical and demographic factors and CM use among survivors of sex‐specific and non–sex‐specific cancers.RESULTS.Of the 19 CMs included in the survey, the CMs most frequently reported were prayer/spiritual practice (61.4%), relaxation (44.3%), faith/spiritual healing (42.4%), nutritional supplements/vitamins (40.1%), meditation (15%), religious counseling (11.3%), massage (11.2%), and support groups (9.7%). Among these 19 CMs, the least prevalent were hypnosis (0.4%), biofeedback therapy (1.0%), and acupuncture/acupressure (1.2%). Survivors more likely to use CMs were female, younger, white, higher income, and more educated.CONCLUSIONS.This study provides information regarding prevalence and medical–demographic determinants of CM use reported by a large, population‐based sample of survivors of 10 cancers surveyed 10 to 24 months after diagnosis. These findings may be used by clinicians and researchers to inform their decisions regarding which CMs to address in practice and research. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.
Retinal anatomy and visual performance in a diurnal cone‐rich laboratory rodent, the Nile grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus)
Authors: Gaillard Frédéric , Bonfield Stephan , Gilmour Gregory S. , Kuny Sharee , Mema Silvina C. , Martin Brent T. , Smale Laura , Crowder Nathan , Stell William K. , Sauvé Yves 
Published: August 2008

AbstractUnlike laboratory rats and mice, muridae of the Arvicanthis family (A. ansorgei and A. niloticus) are adapted to functioning best in daylight. To date, they have been used as experimental models mainly in studies of circadian rhythms. However, recent work aimed at optimizing photoreceptor‐directed gene delivery vectors (Khani et al. [2007] Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48:3954–3961) suggests their potential usefulness for studying retinal pathologies and therapies. In the present study we analyzed the retinal anatomy and visual performance of the Nile grass rat (A. niloticus) using immunohistofluorescence and the optokinetic response (OKR). We found that ≈35–40% of photoreceptors are cones; that many neural features of the inner retina are similar to those in other diurnal mammals; and that spatial acuity, measured by the OKR, is more than two times that of the usual laboratory rodents. These observations are consistent with the known diurnal habits of this animal, and further support its pertinence as a complementary model for studies of structure, function, and pathology in cone‐rich mammalian retinae. J. Comp. Neurol. 510:525–538, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reconstruction of reflectance spectra using weighted principal component analysis
Authors: Agahian Farnaz , Amirshahi Seyed Ali , Amirshahi Seyed Hossein 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThe weighted principal component analysis technique is employed for reconstruction of reflectance spectra of surface colors from the related tristimulus values. A dynamic eigenvector subspace based on applying certain weights to reflectance data of Munsell color chips has been formed for each particular sample and the color difference value between the target, and Munsell dataset is chosen as a criterion for determination of weighting factors. Implementation of this method enables one to increase the influence of samples which are closer to target on extracted principal eigenvectors and subsequently diminish the effect of those samples which benefit from higher amount of color difference. The performance of the suggested method is evaluated in spectral reflectance reconstruction of three different collections of colored samples by the use of the first three Munsell bases. The resulting spectra show considerable improvements in terms of root mean square error between the actual and reconstructed reflectance curves as well as CIELAB color difference under illuminant A in comparison to those obtained from the standard PCA method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 360–371, 2008
Color preference of aged observers compared to young observers
Authors: Beke László , Kutas Gábor , Kwak Youngshin , Sung Gee Young , Park Du‐Sik , Bodrogi Peter 
Published: August 2008

AbstractIn modern society, elderly people tend to become enthusiastic users of displays. These displays are optimized for the visual properties of young adults ignoring the specific attributes of the vision of the elderly though the existence of differences is evident. It is true, however, that most of the investigations follow a bottom‐up paradigm (changes of optical density, neural changes, etc.), and their results are too ambiguous to be taken into account directly in display optimization for the elderly, partly because there is a long‐term adaptation, which apparently recompensates for some of the changes in the human visual system. Preference is a high‐level psychological factor having a very important impact on the acceptability of color displays. The present article follows a top–down methodology to investigate these age‐related differences directly. The first part concentrates on functionalities of the human visual system: white point preference, chroma perception, unique, and preferred hues. Results confirm the long‐term compensation theory for the elderly observers along with the chromatic content decrease of perceived colors. The second part investigates preference differences in case of photorealistic images in terms of global and local contrast, white point, average chroma, and the effect of several image color manipulation techniques. Results indicate significant differences between young and aged observers' color image preference, some of which can be explained with neuro‐physiological changes, others may be attributed to cultural implications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 381–394, 2008
Schemes for avoiding starvation in transactional memory systems
Authors: Waliullah M. M. , Stenstrom Per 
Published: August 2008

AbstractTransactional memory systems trade ease of programming with run‐time performance losses in handling transactions. This paper focuses on starvation effects that show up in systems where unordered transactions are committed on a demand‐driven basis. Such simple commit arbitration policies are prone to starvation. The design issues for commit arbitration policies are analyzed and novel policies that reduce the amount of wasted computation due to roll‐back and, most important, that avoid starvation are proposed. We analyze in detail how to incorporate them in the transactional coherence and consistency protocol as well as a scalable version of it. The proposed schemes are shown to have no impact on the common‐case performance and add quite modest complexity to the baseline protocol. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Towards Sustainable and Renewable Systems for Electrochemical Energy Storage
Authors: Tarascon Jean‐Marie 
Published: August 2008

AbstractRenewable energy sources and electric automotive transportation are popular topics in our belated energy‐conscious society, placing electrochemical energy management as one of the major technological developments for this new century. Besides efficiency, any new storage technologies will have to provide advantages in terms of cost and environmental footprint and thus rely on sustainable materials that can be processed at low temperature. To meet such challenges future devices will require inspiration from living organisms and rely on either bio‐inspired or biomimetic approaches.
Cellular wave computer algorithms with spatial semantic embedding for handwritten text recognition
Authors: Karacs Kristóf , Prószéky Gábor , Roska Tamás 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThe recognition of cursive handwritten texts is a complex, in some cases unsolvable, task. One problem is that in most cases it is difficult or impossible to identify each letter, even if the words are separated. In our new method, the identification of letters is not needed due to the extensive and iterative use of semantic and morphological information of a given language. We are using a spatial feature code, generated by a cellular nonlinear network (CNN) based cellular wave computer algorithm, and combine it with the linguistic properties of the given language. Most general‐purpose handwriting recognition systems lack the ability to integrate linguistic background knowledge because they use it only for post‐processing recognition results. The high‐levela prioribackground knowledge is, however, crucial in human reading and similarly it can boost recognition rates dramatically in case of recognition systems. In our new system we do not treat the visual source as the only input: geometric and linguistic information are given equal importance. On the geometric side we use word‐level holistic feature detection without letter segmentation by analogic CNN algorithms designed for cellular wave computers (IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst.1993;40:163–173;Cellular Neural Networks and Visual Computing,Foundations and Applications. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K., New York, 2002). The linguistic side is based on a morpho‐syntactic linguistic system (Proceedings of COLING‐2002, vol. II, Taipei, Taiwan, 2002; 1263–1267). A novel shape coding method is used to interface them, and their interaction is enhanced via an inverse filtering technique based on features that are global or of a low confidence value. A statistical context selection method is also applied to further reduce the output word lists. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Using drinking in the dark to model prenatal binge‐like exposure to ethanol in C57BL/6J mice
Authors: Boehm Stephen L. , Moore Eileen M. , Walsh Cherie D. , Gross Carly D. , Cavelli Austin M. , Gigante Eduardo , Linsenbardt David N. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractAnimal models of prenatal ethanol exposure are necessary to more fully understand the effects of ethanol on the developing embryo/fetus. However, most models employ procedures that may produce additional maternal stress beyond that produced by ethanol alone. We employed a daily limited‐access ethanol intake model called Drinking in the Dark (DID) to assess the effects of voluntary maternal binge‐like ethanol intake on the developing mouse. Evidence suggests that binge exposure may be particularly harmful to the embryo/fetus, perhaps due to the relatively higher blood ethanol concentrations achieved. Pregnant females had mean daily ethanol intakes ranging from 4.2 to 6.4 g/kg ethanol over gestation, producing blood ethanol concentrations ranging from 115 to 182 mg/dL. This level of ethanol intake produced behavioral alterations among adolescent offspring that disappeared by adulthood, including altered sensitivity to ethanol's hypnotic actions. The DID model may provide a useful tool for studying the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure in mice. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 566–578, 2008.
The Effects of Pendant vs. Fused Thiophene Attachment upon the Luminescence Lifetimes and Electrochemistry of Tris(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium(II) Complexes
Authors: Nurkkala Lasse J. , Steen Robert O. , Friberg Henrik K. J. , Häggström Johanna A. , Bernhardt Paul V. , Riley Mark J. , Dunne Simon J. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThe electrochemical and photophysical properties for a range of tris(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium(II) complexes in which a thiophene substituent is attached to one of the bipyridine ligands by either a pendant or a fused mode have been determined. The fused mode of attachment eliminates torsional movement between the thiophene unit and the chelating bipyridine, thereby offering optimal overlap between the π‐systems of the chelating unit and the attached thiophene unit. The electrochemical properties of these complexes were found to be similar; however, the luminescence lifetimes and intensities (in CH3CN at room temperature) were found to be correlated to the mode of attachment. The longest luminescence lifetime was observed for the complex [Ru(bpy)2{4‐(thiophen‐2‐yl)‐2,2′‐bipyridine}]2+ (3000 ns), as compared to the prototypic [Ru(bpy)3]2+ (1745 ns). This complex also had the highest quantum yield (0.045). In the four isomeric complexes, where the thiophene ring was fused to the b or c face of the pyridine ring, the lifetimes fell in the interval 275–1510 ns, and the quantum yield ranged between 0.0047 and 0.014. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)
Experimental validation of two depth‐averaged turbulence models
Authors: Fe J. , Navarrina F. , Puertas J. , Vellando P. , Ruiz D. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractA finite volume turbulence model for the resolution of the two‐dimensional shallow water equations with turbulent term is presented. After making a finite volume discretization of the depth‐averaged k–ε equations in conservative form, the q–r equations, that give stability to the process, are obtained. Wall and inlet boundary conditions for the turbulent equations and wall conditions for the hydrodynamic equations are discussed. A comparison between the k–ε and q–r models and some experimental results is made. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
GluR6‐containing KA receptor mediates the activation of p38 MAP kinase in rat hippocampal CA1 region during brain ischemia injury
Authors: Chen Juan , Li Chong , Pei Dong‐Sheng , Han Dong , Liu Xiao‐Mei , Jiang Hai‐Xia , Wang Xiao‐Tian , Guan Qiu‐Hua , Wen Xiang‐Ru , Hou Xiao‐Yu , Zhang Guang‐Yi 
Published: August 2008

AbstractOur previous study showed that kainate (KA) receptor subunit GluR6 played an important role in ischemia‐induced MLK3 and JNK activation and neuronal degeneration through the GluR6‐PSD95‐MLK3 signaling module. However, whether the KA receptors subunit GluR6 is involved in the activation of p38 MAP kinase during the transient brain ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in the rat hippocampal CA1 subfield is still unknown. In this present study, we first evaluated the time‐course of phospho‐p38 MAP kinase at various time‐points after 15 min of ischemia and then observed the effects of antagonist of KA receptor subunit GluR6, GluR6 antisence oligodeoxynucleotides on the phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase induced by I/R. Results showed that inhibiting KA receptor GluR6 or suppressing the expression of KA receptor GluR6 could down‐regulate the elevation of phospho‐p38 MAP kinase induced by I/R. These drugs also reduced the phosphorylation of MLK3, MKK3/MKK6, MKK4, and MAPKAPK2. Additionally, our results indicated administration of three drugs, including p38 MAP kinase inhibitor before brain ischemia significantly decreased the number of TUNEL‐positive cells detected at 3 days of reperfusion and increased the number of the surviving CA1 pyramidal cells at 5 days of reperfusion after 15 min of ischemia. Taken together, we suggest that GluR6‐contained KA receptors can mediate p38 MAP kinase activation through a kinase cascade, including MLK3, MKK3/MKK6, and MKK4 and then induce increased phosphorylation of MAPKAPK‐2 during ischemia injury and ultimately result in neuronal cell death in the rat hippocampal CA1 region. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ATP‐dependent looping of DNA by ISWI
Authors: Lia Giuseppe , Indrieri Marco , Owen‐Hughes Tom , Finzi Laura , Podesta Alessandro , Milani Paolo , Dunlap David 
Published: August 2008

AbstractSnf2 related chromatin remodelling enzymes possess an ATPase subunit similar to that of the SF‐II helicases which hydrolyzes ATP to track along DNA. Translocation and any resulting torque in the DNA could drive chromatin remodeling. To determine whether the ISWI protein can translocate and generate torque, tethered particle motion experiments and atomic force microscopy have been performed using recombinant ISWI expressed in E. coli. In the absence of ATP, ISWI bound to and wrapped DNA thereby shortening the overall contour length measured in atomic force micrographs. Although naked DNA only weakly stimulates ATP hydrolysis by ISWI, both atomic force microscopy and tethered particle motion data indicate that the protein generated loops in the presence of ATP. The duration of the looped state of the DNA measured using tethered particle motion was ATP‐dependent. Finally, ISWI relaxed positively supercoiled plasmids visualized by atomic force microscopy. While other chromatin remodeling ATPases catalyze either DNA wrapping or looping, both are catalyzed by ISWI. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Nuclear and nuclear envelope localization of dystrophin Dp71 and dystrophin‐associated proteins (DAPs) in the C2C12 muscle cells: DAPs nuclear localization is modulated during myogenesis
Authors: González‐Ramírez R. , Morales‐Lázaro S.L. , Tapia‐Ramírez V. , Mornet D. , Cisneros B. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractDystrophin and dystrophin‐associated proteins (DAPs) form a complex around the sarcolemma, which gives stability to the sarcolemma and leads signal transduction. Recently, the nuclear presence of dystrophin Dp71 and DAPs has been revealed in different non‐muscle cell types, opening the possibility that these proteins could also be present in the nucleus of muscle cells. In this study, we analyzed by Immunofluorescence assays and Immunoblotting analysis of cell fractions the subcellular localization of Dp71 and DAPs in the C2C12 muscle cell line. We demonstrated the presence of Dp71, α‐sarcoglycan, α‐dystrobrevin, β‐dystroglycan and α‐syntrophin not only in plasma membrane but also in the nucleus of muscle cells. In addition, we found by Immunoprecipitation assays that these proteins form a nuclear complex. Interestingly, myogenesis modulates the presence and/or relative abundance of DAPs in the plasma membrane and nucleus as well as the composition of the nuclear complex. Finally, we demonstrated the presence of Dp71, α‐sarcoglycan, β‐dystroglycan, α‐dystrobrevin and α‐syntrophin in the C2C12 nuclear envelope fraction. Interestingly, α‐sarcoglycan and β‐dystroglycan proteins showed enrichment in the nuclear envelope, compared with the nuclear fraction, suggesting that they could function as inner nuclear membrane proteins underlying the secondary association of Dp71 and the remaining DAPs to the nuclear envelope. Nuclear envelope localization of Dp71 and DAPs might be involved in the nuclear envelope‐associated functions, such as nuclear structure and modulation of nuclear processes. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 735–745, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diacylglycerol kinase ζ is associated with chromatin, but dissociates from condensed chromatin during mitotic phase in NIH3T3 cells
Authors: Hasegawa Hiroshi , Nakano Tomoyuki , Hozumi Yasukazu , Takagi Michiaki , Ogino Toshihiko , Okada Masashi , Iseki Ken , Kondo Hisatake , Watanabe Masahiko , Martelli Alberto M. , Goto Kaoru 
Published: August 2008

AbstractDiacylglycerol kinase (DGK) converts diacylglycerol (DG) to phosphatidic acid, both of which act as second messengers to mediate a variety of cellular mechanisms. Therefore, DGK contributes to the regulation of these messengers in cellular signal transduction. Of DGK isozymes cloned, DGKζ is characterized by a nuclear localization signal that overlaps with a sequence similar to the myristoylated alanine‐rich C‐kinase substrate. Previous studies showed that nuclear DG is differentially regulated from plasma membrane DG and that the nuclear DG levels fluctuate in correlation with cell cycle progression, suggesting the importance of nuclear DG in cell cycle control. In this connection, DGKζ has been shown to localize to the nucleus in fully differentiated cells, such as neurons and lung cells, although it remains elusive how DGK behaves during the cell cycle in proliferating cells. Here we demonstrate that DGKζ localizes to the nucleus during interphase including G1, S, and G2 phases and is associated with chromatin although it dissociates from condensed chromatin during mitotic phase in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, this localization pattern is also observed in proliferating spermatogonia in the testis. These results suggest a reversible association of DGKζ with histone or its related proteins in cell cycle, plausibly dependent on their post‐translational modifications. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 756–765, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.