bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of short‐term treatment with alendronate on ulnar bone adaptation to cyclic fatigue loading in rats
Authors: Barrett Jennifer G. , Sample Susannah J. , McCarthy Jenna , Kalscheur Vicki L. , Muir Peter , Prokuski Laura 
Published: April 2007

AbstractTargeted remodeling of fatigue‐injured bone involves activation of osteoclastic resorption followed by local bone formation by osteoblasts. We studied the effect of parenteral alendronate (ALN) on bone adaptation to cyclic fatigue. The ulnae of 140 rats were cyclically loaded unilaterally until 40% loss of stiffness developed. We used eight treatment groups: (1) baseline control; (2) vehicle (sterile saline) and (3) alendronate before fatigue, no adaptation (Pre‐VEH, Pre‐ALN, respectively); (4) vehicle and (5) alendronate during adaptation to fatigue (Post‐VEH, Post‐ALN, respectively); (6) vehicle before fatigue and during adaptation (Pre‐VEH/Post‐VEH); (7) alendronate before fatigue and vehicle during adaptation (Pre‐ALN/Post‐VEH); (8) alendronate before fatigue and during adaptation (Pre‐ALN/Post‐ALN). Bones from half the rats/group were tested mechanically; remaining bones were examined histologically. The following variables were quantified: volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD); ultimate force (Fu); stiffness (S); work‐to‐failure (U); cortical area (Ct.Ar); new woven bone tissue area (Ne.Wo.B.T.Ar); resorption space density (Rs.N/T.Ar). Microcracking was only seen in fatigue‐loaded ulnae. A significant effect of alendronate on vBMD was not found. Preemptive treatment with alendronate did not protect the ulna from structural degradation during fatigue. After fatigue, recovery of mechanical properties by adaptation occurred; here a significant alendronate effect was not found. An alendronate‐specific effect on adaptive Ne.Wo.B.T.Ar was not found. In the fatigue‐loaded ulna, Rs.N/T.Ar was increased in vehicle‐treated adapted groups, but not alendronate‐treated adapted groups, when compared with baseline control. These data suggest that short‐term alendronate treatment does not protect bone from fatigue in this model. Inhibition of remodeling may reduce microcrack repair over time. © 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 25:1070–1077, 2007
Biomechanical comparison of a novel multilevel hex‐head pedicle screw design with a conventional head design
Authors: Liu Qi , Olson Donald R. , Tiley Frederick W. , Shea Marie , Smits Matt , Hart Robert A. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe objective of the study was to determine the biomechanical effect during insertion of multilevel hex‐head design pedicle screws compared to a conventional screw‐head design. Eighteen lumbar vertebrae and thoracic vertebrae from human cadavers were instrumented with a novel, multilevel hexagonal head pedicle screw on one side and a conventional head pedicle screw on the contralateral side. Screws were inserted at a constant rate and insertion and removal torques were recorded. A further 14 lumbar and thoracic vertebrae were used to test alterability of screw direction and operational effort required. Electromagnetic sensors recorded the change in angular direction for both screw and screwdriver. The force applied through the insertion screwdriver required to produce the directional change was also recorded. No significant differences were found between the two screw types for insertion or removal torque in either lumbar or thoracic vertebrae. Multilevel hex‐head screws had significantly greater directional alterability than conventional head screws in both lumbar and thoracic specimens. Multilevel hex‐head screws also required less force applied through the screwdriver than conventional screws to alter direction of screw insertion in both lumbar and thoracic specimens. The multilevel hex‐head design did not affect the insertion or removal torque in comparison to a conventional head design. © 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 25:1115–1120, 2007
On the interaction of NLS‐described modulating pulses with different carrier waves
Authors: Chirilus‐Bruckner Martina , Schneider Guido , Uecker Hannes 
Published: April 2007

AbstractWe give a detailed analysis of the interaction of two modulating pulse solutions of a nonlinear wave equation. These solutions consist of pulse‐like envelopes satisfying approximately a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, advancing in the laboratory frame, and modulating underlying wave trains. We improve the bound for the possible shift of the envelopes caused by the interaction of two well‐prepared pulses from order 𝒪(1) to order 𝒪(ε). Thus, we manifest the statement that there is almost no interaction of pulses with different carrier waves. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ESR imaging investigations of two‐phase systems
Authors: Herrmann Werner , Stößer Reinhard , Borchert Hans‐Hubert 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe possibilities of electron spin resonance (ESR) and electron spin resonance imaging (ESRI) for investigating the properties of the spin probes TEMPO and TEMPOL in two‐phase systems have been examined in the systems water/n‐octanol, Miglyol/Miglyol, and Precirol/Miglyol. Phases and regions of the phase boundary could be mapped successfully by means of the isotropic hyperfine coupling constants, and, moreover, the quantification of rotational and lateral diffusion of the spin probes was possible. For the quantitative treatment of the micropolarity, a simplified empirical model was established on the basis of the Nernst distribution and the experimentally determined isotropic hyperfine coupling constants. The model does not only describe the summarized micropolarities of coexisting phases, but also the region of the phase boundary, where solvent molecules of different polarities and tendencies to form hydrogen bonds compete to interact with the NO group of the spin probe. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pharmaceutical marketing: a question of regulation
Authors: Devlin Elinor , Hastings Gerard , Smith Anne , McDermott Laura , Noble Gary 
Published: April 2007

Abstract

In recent years, the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical industry have been subject to scrutiny and criticism. In the UK, prescription‐only (PO) medicines cannot be marketed directly to the public, and marketing to health professionals is self‐regulated by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry's (ABPI) Code of Practice.
This study uses internal document analyses to examine the effectiveness of this regulatory framework. Specifically, a qualitative analysis was conducted of internal marketing documents from five UK pharmaceutical companies which were obtained by the House of Commons Health Committee. This analysis suggests that major pharmaceutical companies are contravening the ABPI Code in four key areas.
The authors conclude that the current system is not effectively regulating the marketing of PO medicines to the general public or health professionals in the UK and suggest that the Code and indeed the whole regulatory procedure needs a thorough review.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis of a random copolymer and its compatibility for thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer/poly(ether ether ketone) blends
Authors: Yang Yanhua , Dai Xiaohui , Zhang Limei , Ma Rongtang , Jiang Zhenhua 
Published: April 2007

AbstractA random copolymer (RCP) containing poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) segments was synthesized. Its chemical structure and liquid crystalline properties were characterized by FT‐IR, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polar light microscopy (PLM) respectively. A single glass transition temperature (Tg) at 134.0°C, a melting temperature (Tm) at 282.0°C and a temperature of ignition (Ti) at 331.3°C can be observed. Blends of PEEK and TLCP with and without RCP as compatibilizer were prepared by extrusion and the effect of RCP on the thermal properties, dynamic mechanical properties, morphology and static tensile mechanical properties of blends was investigated by means of DSC, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), etc. Dynamic mechanical measurements indicated that there appeared to be only a single tan δ peak resulting from the glass transition of the PEEK‐rich phase and the Tg value shifted towards higher temperature due to the presence of compatibilizer, as suggested partial compatibility. Morphological investigations showed that the addition of RCP to binary blends reduced the dispersed phase size and improved the interfacial adhesion between the two phases. The ternary compatibilized blends showed enhanced tensile modulus compared to their binary blends without RCP. The strain at break decreased for the ternary blends due to embrittlement of the matrix by the incorporation of some RCP to the matrix phase. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Patterns and prevalence of antidepressant drug use in the German state of Baden‐Wuerttemberg: a prescription‐based analysis
Authors: Ufer M. , Meyer S. A. , Junge O. , Selke G. , Volz H. P. , Hedderich J. , Gleiter C. H. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractPurposePopulation‐based data about patterns and prevalence of antidepressant drug use is limited in Europe and presently unavailable for Germany. Therefore, we have identified patterns and prevalence of antidepressant use among outpatients on a population‐based scale in the German state of Baden‐Wuerttemberg.MethodsWe conducted a historical cohort study using a computerised prescription database referring to all members of the major German public health insurance company AOK. We assessed the prevalence of antidepressant drug use over a 3‐year period, calculated the number of prescription items purchased per patient and compared first‐line and second‐line treatments.ResultsThe 1‐year prevalence of antidepressant drug use among more than 4 000 000 health insurance members was 7.4% (male: 4.3%; female: 10.2%). Importantly, almost 40% of the patients received only a single prescription item from 2000 to 2002. Though the use of serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) markedly increased by about 65% within the study period, these are primarily used as second‐line drugs and still much less frequently than St. John's wort or tricyclic antidepressants such as amitryptiline or doxepin.ConclusionsThe prevalence of antidepressant drug use is higher than previously reported for other European countries. The preferred use of St. John's wort and tricyclics over SSRIs and other modern‐type antidepressants in Germany is quite unique in Europe and different from the US. The identified drug use pattern leaves a major room for improvement in view of the numerous single prescription items purchased. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The evaluation of two‐step multivariate adaptive regression splines for chromatographic retention prediction of peptides
Authors: Put Raf , Vander Heyden Yvan 
Published: April 2007

AbstractBoth the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) and the two‐step MARS (TMARS) methodologies were applied in a quantitative structure–retention relationship (QSRR) context. For seven RPLC systems, QSRR models were built that describe the retention times of a set of peptides using a large set of molecular descriptors as potential predictor variables. The use of QSRR models for chromatographic retention prediction of peptides may be valuable in proteomic research to improve the number of correct peptide identifications. Always, 70% of the samples was used to derive the QSRR models (calibration set), whereas the remaining 30% of the peptides were treated as an independent external test set. For four systems, the models obtained by TMARS have better predictive abilities than the MARS models. The MARS and TMARS model performance was compared with those of other multivariate modelling techniques. For five out of seven systems it was observed that the uninformative variable elimination by the partial least squares (PLS) approach outperforms all other methods studied. For three systems predictive errors smaller than 30 s were obtained. PLS regression and a multiple linear regression model based on three descriptors led to the best predictivities for the remaining two systems.
Proteome‐wide analysis of the serological response to vaccinia and smallpox
Authors: Davies D. Huw , Molina Douglas M. , Wrammert Jens , Miller Joe , Hirst Siddiqua , Mu Yunxiang , Pablo Jozelyn , Unal Berkay , Nakajima‐Sasaki Rie , Liang Xiaowu , Crotty Shane , Karem Kevin L. , Damon Inger K. , Ahmed Rafi , Villarreal Luis , Felgner Philip L. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe eradication of smallpox by vaccination with vaccinia virus was probably one of the greatest achievements of vaccinology. However, the immunological basis of this protection is not fully understood. To this end, we have used protein microarrays of the vaccinia (Western Reserve, WR) proteome to profile antibody reactivities after primary infection or boosting with the licensed smallpox vaccine, Dryvax®, and with archival convalescent smallpox sera. Some 25 antigens were consistently recognized by Dryvax® sera, of which half were envelope proteins (notably, H3, A13, B5, and D8). The remainder consisted mainly of core proteins (e.g. A10, L4, and I1), proteins involved in intracellular morphogenesis (A11, D13), and the A‐type inclusion protein, WR148. Convalescent smallpox sera also detected vaccinia antigens on the array, consistent with the notion that there is serological cross‐reactivity between these two orthopox species that underlies protection. Moreover, the profiles of immunodominant antigens recognized by variola‐infected individuals and Dryvax® vaccinees were indistinguishable. This is the first description of antibody‐specificity profiles induced after smallpox infection. The array data indicate that a significant component of the antibody response is not involved in virus neutralization, although these antigens should be considered alongside the envelope proteins as potential candidates for diagnostic and vaccine applications.
Systematic investigation of lycopene effects in LNCaP cells by use of novel large‐scale proteomic analysis software
Authors: Goo Young Ah , Li Zheng , Pajkovic Natasa , Shaffer Scott , Taylor Greg , Chen Jinzhi , Campbell David , Arnstein Larry , Goodlett David R. , van Breemen Richard B. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractLycopene, the red pigment of tomatoes, is a carotenoid with potent antioxidant properties. Although lycopene may function as a prostate cancer chemoprevention agent, little is known about its effects at the cellular level. To define general changes induced by treatment of cells with lycopene, and to gain insights into the possible chemoprevention properties of lycopene, we investigated changes in protein expression after lycopene treatment in human LNCaP cells. The high throughput proteomics data were then visualized and analyzed by novel biological protein pathway modeling software. Differentially expressed proteins were identified, and the data were analyzed by protein pathway simulation software, without the need for specialized programming, by importing pathway models from a number of sources or by creating our own. One notable outcome was the identification of a group of upregulated proteins involved in detoxification of reactive oxygen species. This finding suggests that a possible mechanism of lycopene chemoprevention is the stimulation of detoxification enzymes associated with the antioxidant response element. Novel biological pathway modeling software enhances analysis of large proteomics data. When applied to the analysis of proteins differentially expressed in prostate cancer cells upon treatment with lycopene, the up‐regulation of detoxification enzymes was identified.
Identification of gene products present in Triton X‐100 soluble and insoluble fractions of human spermatozoa lysates using LC‐MS/MS analysis
Authors: Baker Mark A. , Reeves Gabi , Hetherington Louise , Müller Jörg , Baur Inke , Aitken R. John 
Published: April 2007

AbstractA comprehensive analysis of the proteins found in human spermatozoa is essential for understanding the events leading up to, and including, fertilization and development. Proteomics offers a platform for investigating this process, provided that the dynamic range is relatively low. In this report, spermatozoa from a number of human sperm ejaculates were isolated in a pure state using discontinuous Percoll gradient centrifugation. Triton X‐100 soluble and insoluble proteins were recovered and separated by SDS‐PAGE. The separation lanes were dissected into 96 fractions and analyzed individually by LC‐MSn. A comprehensive protocol, involving LC‐MS/MS analysis eventually down to the ninth most intense peak found in the MS‐survey scan, was performed. Analysis of purified human sperm populations resulted in the identification of 1056 gene products, of which approximately 8% have not previously been characterized. The data were supported by the large number of proteins represented by expressed sequence tags in the testis. Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that 437 of the gene products were involved in various metabolic pathways including glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. The inventory of proteins present in the human sperm proteome includes a number of notable discoveries including the first description of a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, dual‐oxidase 2, finally laying to rest any doubts about the presence of such enzymes in spermatozoa. Furthermore, a number of different classes of receptor have also been detected in these cells and are potential regulators of sperm function. This list includes at least six seven‐pass transmembrane receptors, six tyrosine kinase receptors, a tyrosine phosphatase receptor, glutamate‐gated ion channel receptors, transient receptor potential cation channels, and a non‐genomic progesterone receptor. This is the first published list of identified proteins in human spermatozoa using LC‐MS/MS analysis.
Structure‐based protein engineering for α‐amylase inhibitory activity of plant defensin
Authors: Lin Ku‐Feng , Lee Tian‐Ren , Tsai Ping‐Hsing , Hsu Ming‐Pin , Chen Ching‐San , Lyu Ping‐Chiang 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe structure of a novel plant defensin isolated from the seeds of the mung bean, Vigna radiate, has been determined by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The three‐dimensional structure of VrD2, the V. radiate plant defensin 2 protein, comprises an α‐helix and one triple‐stranded anti‐parallel β‐sheet stabilized by four disulfide bonds. This protein exhibits neither insecticidal activity nor α‐amylase inhibitory activity in spite of showing a similar global fold to that of VrD1, an insecticidal plant defensin that has been suggested to function by inhibiting insect α‐amylase. Our previous study proposed that loop L3 of plant defensins is important for this inhibition. Structural analyses and surface charge comparisons of VrD1 and VrD2 revealed that the charged residues of L3 correlate with the observed difference in inhibitory activities of these proteins. A VrD2 chimera that was produced by transferring the proposed functional loop of VrD1 onto the structurally equivalent loop of VrD2 supported this hypothesis. The VrD2 chimera, which differs by only five residues compared with VrD2, showed obvious activity against Tenebrio molitor α‐amylase. These results clarify the mode of α‐amylase inhibition of plant defensins and also represent a possible approach for engineering novel α‐amylase inhibitors. Plant defensins are important constituents of the innate immune system of plants, and thus the application of protein engineering to this protein family may provide an efficient method for protecting against crop losses. Proteins 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protein docking using surface matching and supervised machine learning
Authors: Bordner Andrew J. , Gorin Andrey A. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractComputational prediction of protein complex structures through docking offers a means to gain a mechanistic understanding of protein interactions that mediate biological processes. This is particularly important as the number of experimentally determined structures of isolated proteins exceeds the number of structures of complexes. A comprehensive docking procedure is described in which efficient sampling of conformations is achieved by matching surface normal vectors, fast filtering for shape complementarity, clustering by RMSD, and scoring the docked conformations using a supervised machine learning approach. Contacting residue pair frequencies, residue propensities, evolutionary conservation, and shape complementarity score for each docking conformation are used as input data to a Random Forest classifier. The performance of the Random Forest approach for selecting correctly docked conformations was assessed by cross‐validation using a nonredundant benchmark set of X‐ray structures for 93 heterodimer and 733 homodimer complexes. The single highest rank docking solution was the correct (near‐native) structure for slightly more than one third of the complexes. Furthermore, the fraction of highly ranked correct structures was significantly higher than the overall fraction of correct structures, for almost all complexes. A detailed analysis of the difficult to predict complexes revealed that the majority of the homodimer cases were explained by incorrect oligomeric state annotation. Evolutionary conservation and shape complementarity score as well as both underrepresented and overrepresented residue types and residue pairs were found to make the largest contributions to the overall prediction accuracy. Finally, the method was also applied to docking unbound subunit structures from a previously published benchmark set. Proteins 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
pyDock: Electrostatics and desolvation for effective scoring of rigid‐body protein–protein docking
Authors: Cheng Tammy Man‐Kuang , Blundell Tom L. , Fernandez‐Recio Juan 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe accurate scoring of rigid‐body docking orientations represents one of the major difficulties in protein–protein docking prediction. Other challenges are the development of faster and more efficient sampling methods and the introduction of receptor and ligand flexibility during simulations. Overall, good discrimination of near‐native docking poses from the very early stages of rigid‐body protein docking is essential step before applying more costly interface refinement to the correct docking solutions. Here we explore a simple approach to scoring of rigid‐body docking poses, which has been implemented in a program called pyDock. The scheme is based on Coulombic electrostatics with distance dependent dielectric constant, and implicit desolvation energy with atomic solvation parameters previously adjusted for rigid‐body protein–protein docking. This scoring function is not highly dependent on specific geometry of the docking poses and therefore can be used in rigid‐body docking sets generated by a variety of methods. We have tested the procedure in a large benchmark set of 80 unbound docking cases. The method is able to detect a near‐native solution from 12,000 docking poses and place it within the 100 lowest‐energy docking solutions in 56% of the cases, in a completely unrestricted manner and without any other additional information. More specifically, a near‐native solution will lie within the top 20 solutions in 37% of the cases. The simplicity of the approach allows for a better understanding of the physical principles behind protein–protein association, and provides a fast tool for the evaluation of large sets of rigid‐body docking poses in search of the near‐native orientation. Proteins 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.