bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Involvement of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) in mammary carcinogenesis through interaction with Bcl-G, a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family
Authors: Lin Meng-Lay , Park Jae-Hyun , Nishidate Toshihiko , Nakamura Yusuke , Katagiri Toyomasa 
Published: February 2007

Abstract
Introduction
Cancer therapies directed at specific molecular targets in signaling pathways of cancer cells, such as tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors and trastuzumab, have proven useful for treatment of advanced breast cancers. However, increased risk of endometrial cancer with long-term tamoxifen administration and of bone fracture due to osteoporosis in postmenopausal women undergoing aromatase inhibitor therapy are recognized side effects. These side effects as well as drug resistance make it necessary to search for novel molecular targets for drugs on the basis of well-characterized mechanisms of action.

Methods
Using accurate genome-wide expression profiles of breast cancers, we found maternal embryonic leucine-zipper kinase (MELK) to be significantly overexpressed in the great majority of breast cancer cells. To assess whether MELK has a role in mammary carcinogenesis, we knocked down the expression of endogenous MELK in breast cancer cell lines using mammalian vector-based RNA interference. Furthermore, we identified a long isoform of Bcl-G (Bcl-GL), a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, as a possible substrate for MELK by pull-down assay with recombinant wild-type and kinase-dead MELK. Finally, we performed TUNEL assays and FACS analysis, measuring proportions of apoptotic cells, to investigate whether MELK is involved in the apoptosis cascade through the Bcl-GL-related pathway.

Results
Northern blot analyses on multiple human tissues and cancer cell lines demonstrated that MELK was overexpressed at a significantly high level in a great majority of breast cancers and cell lines, but was not expressed in normal vital organs (heart, liver, lung and kidney). Suppression of MELK expression by small interfering RNA significantly inhibited growth of human breast cancer cells. We also found that MELK physically interacted with Bcl-GL through its amino-terminal region. Immunocomplex kinase assay showed that Bcl-GL was specifically phosphorylated by MELK in vitro. TUNEL assays and FACS analysis revealed that overexpression of wild-type MELK suppressed Bcl-GL-induced apoptosis, while that of D150A-MELK did not.

Conclusion
Our findings suggest that the kinase activity of MELK is likely to affect mammary carcinogenesis through inhibition of the pro-apoptotic function of Bcl-GL. The kinase activity of MELK could be a promising molecular target for development of therapy for patients with breast cancers.
Reduced efficacy of selection in regions of the Drosophila genome that lack crossing over
Authors: Haddrill Penelope R , Halligan Daniel L , Tomaras Dimitris , Charlesworth Brian 
Published: February 2007

Abstract
Background
The recombinational environment is predicted to influence patterns of protein sequence evolution through the effects of Hill-Robertson interference among linked sites subject to selection. In freely recombining regions of the genome, selection should more effectively incorporate new beneficial mutations, and eliminate deleterious ones, than in regions with low rates of genetic recombination.

Results
We examined the effects of recombinational environment on patterns of evolution using a genome-wide comparison of Drosophila melanogaster and D. yakuba. In regions of the genome with no crossing over, we find elevated divergence at nonsynonymous sites and in long introns, a virtual absence of codon usage bias, and an increase in gene length. However, we find little evidence for differences in patterns of evolution between regions with high, intermediate, and low crossover frequencies. In addition, genes on the fourth chromosome exhibit more extreme deviations from regions with crossing over than do other, no crossover genes outside the fourth chromosome.

Conclusion
All of the patterns observed are consistent with a severe reduction in the efficacy of selection in the absence of crossing over, resulting in the accumulation of deleterious mutations in these regions. Our results also suggest that even a very low frequency of crossing over may be enough to maintain the efficacy of selection.
Structural Changes in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Waste Materials Caused by Pyrolysis and CO2 Activation
Authors: Parra José B. , Ania Conchi O. , Arenillas Ana , Rubiera Fernando , Pis José J. , Palacios José M. 
Published: February 2007

For ecological reasons, there is an increasing demand for recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) wastes in developed countries. Although one potential application might be its utilisation for the production of activated carbons, the behaviour of these wastes when subjected to different heat treatments and activation processes is still not very well known. In the present work, samples with different degrees of burn-off were prepared by pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere and subsequent CO2 activation at high temperatures. The derived changes in the textural and structural properties of the residual solids were studied by helium picnometry, N2 and CO2 adsorption isotherms, powder XRD, Raman spectroscopy and XPS. The study reveals that CO2 activation of PET wastes develops a carbonaceous matrix with micropores. Helium measurements showed that the mass density of the activated samples increased as the degree of burn-off increased. Characterisation studies revealed that the structural changes derived from pyrolysis and further CO2 activation mostly involved a progressive decrease in the number of structural units.
Acoustic Performances of High Insulation Ventilating Windows Integrated with Rolling Shutter Boxes
Authors: Asdrubali F. 
Published: February 2007

High Sound Insulation Ventilating Windows (HSIVW) have been recently proposed for noise control in buildings close to motorways or railways, where noise barriers are not effective or too expensive. These windows are characterized by good insulation performances and at the same time allow airflow through the window itself, thus allowing summer indoor ventilation and refreshment needs. In the last years at the Acoustics Laboratory of the University of Perugia various prototypes have been tested and their acoustic and airflow performances have been assessed, also verifying the influence of filtering systems in the aerator. The paper summarizes all the experimental data and in particular presents the results of a recent campaign, aimed at testing windows samples integrated with insulated rolling-shutter boxes. Sound reduction index R and single number sound reduction index Rw are evaluated; acoustic intensity measurements and analysis have also been performed, in order to verify the parts of the window which need to be optimized.
Social inequalities in disability-free life expectancy in the french male population, 1980–1991
Authors: Cambois Emmanuelle , Robine Jean-Marie , Hayward Mark D. 
Published: February 2007

Abstract
We calculate aggregate indicators of population health for occupational groups to gauge changes in health disparities during the 1980–1991 period. The study is based on the experiences of French adult men in three major occupational classes: managers, manual workers, and an intermediary occupational group. Life table models show that managers have longer life expectancy and dis-abilityfree life expectancy (DFLE) than manual workers, and a shorter life expectancy with disability. The concurrent increases in life expectancy and DFLE during the period maintained the occupational disparities in health; the years lived with disability, however, declined for all groups, as for the entire French population.
Semantic Interpretation of Natural Language User Input to Improve Search in Multimedia Knowledge Base (Semantische Interpretation einer Benutzer-Eingabe in natürlicher Sprache für eine verbesserte Suche in einer multimedialen Wissensdatenbank)
Authors: Linckels Serge , Meinel Christoph 
Published: February 2007

In this article we present an e-librarian service which is able to retrieve multimedia resources from a knowledge base in a more efficient way than by browsing through an index or by using a simple keyword search. Our premise is that more pertinent results would be retrieved if the e-librarian service had a semantic search engine which understood the sense of the user's query. We explored the approach to allow the user to formulate a complete question in natural language.
We present our background theory, which is composed of three steps. Firstly, there is the linguistic pre-processing of the user question. Secondly, there is the semantic interpretation of the user question into a logical and unambiguous form, i. e., ALC terminology. Thirdly, there is the generation of a semantic query, and the retrieval of pertinent documents.
The background theory was implemented in two prototypes. We report on experiments that confirm the feasibility, the quality and the benefits of such an e-librarian service. From 229 different user questions, the system returned for 97 answer, and for nearly half of the questions only one answer (the best one).
The Church Historians Who made the First Amendment What it is Today
Authors: Drakeman Donald L. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThomas Jefferson and James Madison are frequently identified as the framers of the religion clauses in the First Amendment, thus making their efforts to establish religious freedom in colonial Virginia relevant to the Constitution's meaning. This interpretive approach first appeared in a Supreme Court opinion in 1878 when Chief Justice Morrison Waite applied the religion clauses to the case of a Mormon official prosecuted under a federal antipolygamy law. For historical background, Justice Waite studied books by church historians Robert Reid Howison and Robert Baylor Semple. There, he encountered narratives of the political activism of the Baptists and Presbyterians who, in conjunction with the efforts of Madison and Jefferson, were responsible for Virginia's statutory commitment to religious freedom. The Chief Justice then grafted Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments and Jefferson's now-famous “wall of separation” letter onto the Constitution's bare text, an emendation that has endured for well over a century. Church historians Semple and Howison, and the pivotal role they played in the foundation of First Amendment jurisprudence, have been essentially lost from the historiographical record of church-state relations in America, a situation this article seeks to remedy.
“Beautiful Women Dig Graves”: Richard Baker-roshi, Imported Buddhism, and the Transmission of Ethics at the San Francisco Zen Center
Authors: Bivins Jason C. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThere is little reckoning with the development of religions in the United States without confronting the related processes of importation and appropriation. This article explores these processes specifically as reflected in the story of the San Francisco Zen Center. Partaking of an interpretative ethos established by the nineteenth-century Transcendentalists and refined during the 1950s “Zen boom,” the architects of the SFZC's communalism shaped this complicated tradition specifically for disaffected young practitioners seeking an experiential path beyond their middleclass, Judeo-Christian backgrounds. It was during the 1983 scandals surrounding SFZC leader, Richard Baker-roshi, that many of the interpretive lacunae—specifically, a relative inattention to ethical languages—became readily apparent. This article accounts for these scandals historically (by situating them in the history of American appropriations of Buddhism and of the religious disaffection of the post-World War II period) and theoretically (by reading the SFZC's patterns of transmission and interpretation through the category “interpretative double movement). This double movement among practitioners captures the ways in which those in search of an alternative to their religious culture impose their own idiosyncratic values onto another religious tradition, all the while remaining paradoxically within the interpretive confines of the culture they hope to escape. Reading this complicated history—including both its “scandals” and their aftermaths—through such categories sheds light on the ways in which American religious exchanges are enacted and identities constructed.
Early Childhood Gender Differences in Anterior and Posterior Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity and Autoregulation
Authors: Tontisirin Nuj , Muangman Saipin L. , Suz Pilar , Pihoker Catherine , Fisk Dana , Moore Anne , Lam Arthur M. , Vavilala Monica S. 
Published: February 2007

OBJECTIVE. We aimed to describe gender differences in blood flow velocity and autoregulation of the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations in prepubertal children.
METHODS. A prospective observational cohort study was performed at Harborview Medical Center's Cerebrovascular Laboratory after institutional review board approval, consent, and assent procedures. Children underwent measurement of middle cerebral and basilar artery flow velocities and cerebral autoregulation testing of the middle cerebral and basilar arteries. Cerebral autoregulation was quantified using the autoregulatory index, and estimated cerebrovascular resistance was calculated. Autoregulatory index &lt;0.4 reflects impaired cerebral autoregulation. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Patients were healthy 4- to 8-year-old children.
RESULTS. Forty-eight children (24 boys and 24 girls) 4 to 8 years of age (mean: 6 ± 2 years) were enrolled. Middle cerebral artery flow velocity was higher than basilar artery flow velocity (96 ± 13 vs 65 ± 11 cm/s). Girls had higher middle cerebral artery flow velocity (99 ± 11 vs 91 ± 13 cm/s) and basilar artery flow velocity (70 ± 10 vs 61 ± 9 cm/s) than boys. Cerebral autoregulation was intact in all children. There was no gender difference in autoregulation between the middle cerebral artery (boys: 0.97 ± 0.07; girls: 0.94 ± 0.11) or basilar artery (boys: 0.94 ± 0.13; girls: 0.94 ± 0.11).
CONCLUSIONS. Similar to older children and adults, girls between 4 and 8 years of age had higher middle cerebral and basilar artery flow velocity than age-matched boys. This difference may reflect inherent differences in cerebral metabolic rate and/or estimated cerebrovascular resistance between the genders.
Allogeneic Intrabone Marrow-Bone Marrow Transplantation plus Donor Lymphocyte Infusion Suppresses Growth of Colon Cancer Cells Implanted in Skin and Liver of Rats
Authors: Koike Yasushi , Adachi Yasushi , Suzuki Yasuhiro , Iwasaki Masayoshi , Koike-Kiriyama Naoko , Minamino Keizo , Nakano Keiji , Mukaide Hiromi , Shigematsu Akio , Kiyozuka Yasuhiko , Tubura Airo , Kamiyama Yasuo , Ikehara Susumu 
Published: February 2007

Abstract
We have recently found that allogeneic intrabone marrow-bone marrow transplantation (IBM-BMT) + donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) using CD4+ cell-depleted spleen cells (CD4− cells) can prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) but suppress tumor growth (Meth A: fibrosarcoma) in mice. In the present study, we show that allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using CD4− cells also has suppressive effects on the growth of colon cancer cells implanted not only in the skin but also in the liver of rats. First, we examined the effects of allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI on the subcutaneously inoculated ACL-15 (rat colon cancer cell line). Lethally irradiated Fischer rats (F344 rats) were transplanted with T-cell-depleted bone marrow cells (BMCs) from Brown Norway (BN) rats. Simultaneously, DLI was performed using whole spleen cells (whole cells), CD4+ cell-depleted spleen cells (CD4− cells) or CD8+ cell-depleted spleen cells (CD8− cells) of BN rats. Although allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI suppressed tumor growth, a considerable number of rats treated with allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using whole cells or CD8− cells died due to GvHD. In contrast, allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using CD4− cells also suppressed tumor growth, but there was no GvHD. Based on these findings, we next examined the effects of allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using CD4− cells on the cancer cells implanted in the liver. Allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using CD4− cells via the portal vein significantly prolonged the survival. These results suggest that allogeneic IBM-BMT + DLI using CD4− cells could become a new strategy for the treatment of solid tumors.
Qualification of Embryonal Carcinoma 2102Ep As a Reference for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Authors: Josephson Richard , Ording Carol J. , Liu Ying , Shin Soojung , Lakshmipathy Uma , Toumadje Araz , Love Bradley , Chesnut Jonathan D. , Andrews Peter W. , Rao Mahendra S. , Auerbach Jonathan M. 
Published: February 2007

Abstract
As the number of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines increases, so does the need for systematic evaluation of each line's characteristics and potential. Comparisons between lines are complicated by variations in culture conditions, feeders, spontaneous differentiation, and the absence of standardized assays. These difficulties, combined with the inability of most labs to maintain more than a few lines simultaneously, compel the development of reference standards to which hESC lines can be compared. The use of a stable cell line as a reference standard offers many advantages. A line with a relatively unchanging hESC-like gene and protein expression pattern could be a positive control for developing assays. It can be used as a reference for genomics or proteomics studies, especially for normalizing results obtained in separate laboratories. Such a cell line should be widely available without intellectual property restraints, easily cultured without feeders, and resistant to spontaneous changes in phenotype. We propose that the embryonal carcinoma (EC) line 2102Ep meets these requirements. We compared the protein, gene, and microRNA expression of this cell line with those of hESC lines and alternative reference lines such as the EC line NTERA-2 and the karyotypically abnormal hESC line BG01V. The overall expression profiles of all these lines were similar, with exceptions reflecting the germ cell origins of EC. On the basis of global gene and microRNA expression, 2102Ep is somewhat less similar to hESC than the alternatives; however, 2102Ep expresses more hESC-associated microRNAs than NTERA-2 does, and fewer markers of differentiated fates.
Magnetic‐Core/Porous‐Shell CoFe2O4/SiO2 Composite Nanoparticles as Immobilized Affinity Supports for Clinical Immunoassays
Authors: Tang D. , Yuan R. , Chai Y. , An H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis study demonstrates a novel approach towards the development of advanced protein assay systems based on physically functionalized, magnetic‐core/porous‐shell CoFe2O4/SiO2 composite nanoparticles. The preparation, characterization, and measurement of the relevant properties of the protein assay system is discussed, and the system is used for the detection of cancer antigen 15‐3 (CA 15‐3, used as a model here) in clinical immunoassays. The protein assay system, based on nanometer‐sized magnetic cores and silica shells, shows good adsorption properties for the selective attachment of CA 15‐3 antibodies specific to CA 15‐3. The core/shell nanostructures exhibit good magnetic properties, which enables their integration into a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) detection cell with the help of a permanent magnet. Under optimal conditions, the resulting immunoassay system presents a good QCM response for the detection of CA 15‐3, and allows the detection of CA 15‐3 at concentrations as low as 1.5 U mL–1 (U: units). Importantly, the proposed protein assay system can be extended to the detection of other antigens and biological compounds.
Methods for Counting Water Bacteria – Comparison and Significance
Authors: Straškrabová V. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractA comparison is made between the results of bacteriological investigations into the total of 501 samples from 4 brooks, 2 rivers, 5 reservoirs and 2 wastewater treatment facilities by means of the following methods: Cultures on plates with various media, direct counting and counting of microcolonies. Linear regressions exist between the logarithms of the numbers of germs or bacteria of cultures on plates or direct counts, the ratio of the number of bacteria to the number of germs decreasing with an increasing number of bacteria. In case of equal numbers of bacteria, stagnant waters contain fewer germs than flowing waters.
Methoden der chemischen Analyse des Klärschlammes
Authors: Malý J. , Fadrus H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractFür eine Klassifikation von Schlämmen aus der mechanischen und biologischen Abwasserbehandlung erweisen sich die in der Bodenkunde verwendeten Verfahren des Aufschlusses mit 20%iger Salzsäure sowie der Totalaufschluß in alkalischer Schmelze als durchaus geeignet. In vergleichenden Untersuchungen ist der Aufschluß mit Salzsäure nach Naßoxydation ein brauchbares Verfahren, besser ist jedoch die Gesamtanalyse aus zwei Proben: Bestimmung der Alkalien nach Oxydation mit Perchlorsäure und der übrigen Bestandteile nach alkalischer Schmelze. Die Befunde werden tabellarisch dargestellt und vergleichend diskutiert.
Disiloxanvernetzte Polymere als Phenoladsorber
Authors: Runge F. , Ackermann J. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractMit einem neuen „Disiloxan”︁‐Vernetzer (1,3‐Divinyl‐tetra‐n‐butoxydisiloxan) synthetisierte Copolymere wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung als Adsorber für phenolische Verbindungen geprüft.
Oberflächengewässer als biochemische Reaktoren
Authors: Gnauck A. H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractDie Formulierung „ein Gewässer ist ein biochemischer Reaktor”︁ hat in der letzten Zeit zu neuen Überlegungen bei der Beschreibung des Stoffhaushaltes von Oberflächengewässern angeregt. Dabei wurden jedoch nur verbale Einschätzungen des Reaktors „Gewässer”︁ gegeben, ohne den bereits erprobten mathematischen Apparat, der in der technischen Reaktions‐führung mit Erfolg angewendet wird, zu nutzen. So wurden in der Vergangenheit lediglich für Fließgewässer Massenbilanzgleichungen zur Bilanzierung des Sauerstoffhaushaltes verwendet. Für gestaute Gewässer erfolgte eine solche Bilanz zur Erfassung der Biomasse. Oberflächengewässer werden gemäß ihrem Charakter mit technischen Reaktoren verglichen, wobei die Besonderheiten solcher Ökosystemreaktoren diskutiert werden.
Algal Bioassays of two tropical Rhodesian Reservoirs
Authors: Robarts R. D. , Southall G. C. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPossible nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of algal growth in two tropical impoundments was investigated using pure culture bioassays. The test organism was Selenastrum capricornutum. Phosphorus was indicated as a primary growth limiting nutrient in Mazoe Dam while in Lake McIlwaine nitrogen was generally indicated as limiting. These differences were probably related to the different major sources of nutrients in these two reservoirs.
Vorhersage des Sauerstoffgehaltes im Tiefenwasser einer neuerrichteten Talsperre für die ersten Jahre des Anstaues
Authors: Küchler L. , Kozerski H.‐P. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractDer folgende Beitrag informiert über die Prognose des Sauerstoffgehaltes im Hypolimnion einer geplanten Talsperre mit Hilfe eines mathematischen Modells. Nach einigen Angaben über die angewandten Methoden und notwendige Einschränkungen, zeigen die vorgestellten Rechenergebnisse die prinzipielle Eignung des beschriebenen Prognoseverfahrens. Das Einstauregime hat nach den Ergebnissen eine besonders große Bedeutung für die Sauerstoffverhältnisse in der Anstauphase. Abschließend wird auf eventuelle Fehlerquellen und Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten hingewiesen.