bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of leukapheresis on early death rate in adult acute myeloid leukemia presenting with hyperleukocytosis
Authors: Bug Gesine , Anargyrou Konstantinos , Tonn Torsten , Bialleck Heike , Seifried Erhard , Hoelzer Dieter , Ottmann Oliver G. 
Published: September 2007

BACKGROUND: Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with hyperleukocytosis of at least 100 × 109 per L are at high risk of early death due to pulmonary or cerebral leukostasis. Although the efficacy of leukapheresis in terms of prompt cytoreduction is generally accepted, published data regarding the clinical value of immediate therapeutic leukapheresis are limited and conflicting.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To determine whether leukapheresis has a favorable impact on early mortality, the clinical course of 53 newly diagnosed patients with AML and hyperleukocytosis admitted between 1995 and 2005 was analyzed retrospectively. Before August 2001, 28 patients received chemotherapy without leukoreduction (Cohort A). Thereafter, all AML patients with hyperleukocytosis were scheduled to receive leukapheresis, which was performed in 25 patients (Cohort B).RESULTS: There were no procedure‐related adverse events. By Day 21 of therapy, 13 of 53 patients had died, resulting in an overall early death rate of 25 percent. In a multivariate logistic regression model, patients in Cohort B had a significantly lower risk of early death than patients in Cohort A (16% vs. 32%, respectively; p = 0.015). Dyspnea (p = 0.005), elevated creatinine (p = 0.028), and higher lactate dehydrogenase serum levels (p = 0.021) were independent risk factors for early death. With a median follow‐up of 24.2 months, the overall survival was similar in both cohorts (Cohort A, 7.5; Cohort B, 6.5 months). Thus, leukapheresis had no impact on patients' long‐term survivals.CONCLUSIONS: Our experience suggests that AML patients with hyperleukocytosis receiving leukapheresis had a significantly lower risk for early death by Day 21 than patients treated without leukapheresis. We therefore have adopted leukapheresis as a standard procedure in our department.
Management of pregnancies complicated by anti‐Fya alloimmunization
Authors: Hughes Laura H. , Rossi Karen Q. , Krugh David W. , O'Shaughnessy Richard W. 
Published: September 2007

BACKGROUND: The objective was to evaluate the management and outcome of patients with anti‐Fya at the Ohio State University.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A database search for patients with pregnancies complicated only by anti‐Fya from 1959 to 2004. Collected information included maternal testing, fetal therapy, and neonatal outcomes.RESULTS: The final data set included 18 pregnancies in 15 women where anti‐Fya was the only maternal alloantibody present and the fetus was Fya antigen–positive. Maternal antibody titers of at least 32 and optical density at 450 nm values in modified Liley Zone IIB or III identified all fetuses or neonates with significant hemolytic disease (2/18, 11%). No fetuses had hydrops, and there were no deaths attributed to hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn.CONCLUSION: Anti‐Fya has the potential to lead to significant fetal hemolysis. Management guidelines developed for D sensitization are appropriate for pregnancies complicated by anti‐Fya alloimmunization.
Factor Va, bound to microparticles released during platelet storage, is resistant to inactivation by activated protein C
Authors: Magdeleyns Elke J.P. , Keuren Jeffrey F.W. , Curvers Joyce 
Published: September 2007

BACKGROUND: Microparticles (MPs) support coagulation and can be helpful in restoring the hemostatic system in thrombocytopenic patients. The anticoagulant properties of MPs shed during storage of platelets (PLTs) have not been studied yet.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Storage‐induced MPs were harvested from outdated PLT concentrates. Whether factor (F)Va was present on the surface of these MPs was investigated. The activated protein C (APC)‐catalyzed inactivation of MP‐bound FVa was further determined. Also, inactivation of FVa at the surface of thrombin‐activated PLTs and synthetic vesicles was determined.RESULTS: MPs in stored PLT products carry FVa at their surface. APC‐catalyzed inactivation of MP‐bound FVa resulted in 42 ± 2 percent residual FVa activity after 20 minutes. The residual activity of FVa on thrombin‐activated PLTs was 25 ± 3 percent. Plasma‐derived FVa was rapidly inactivated in the presence of synthetic vesicles, with 5 ± 4 percent residual FVa activity. When synthetic vesicles were added to the inactivation mixture of MP‐ or thrombin‐activated PLTs, a residual activity of 5 to 10 percent was found. Furthermore, addition of excess plasma‐FVa to storage‐induced MPs resulted in a residual activity of 26 ± 2 percent. Moreover, the APC‐resistant phenotype of MPs was confirmed in plasma in which thrombin generation was measured in the absence and presence of APC. Residual FVa activity in the presence of MPs, PLTs, or synthetic vesicles was 87 ± 6, 65 ± 3, and 8 ± 19 percent, respectively.CONCLUSION: Together, these results suggest that the MP surface environment renders FVa resistant to APC. It is further concluded that the APC resistance of FVa at the surface of storage‐induced MPs enhances their procoagulant nature.
Skin and psyche – From the surface to the depth of the inner world
Authors: Beltraminelli Helmut , Itin Peter 
Published: September 2007

SummaryAbout 30 % of dermatology patients have signs or symptoms of psychological problems. Dermatologists should be familiar with the basics needed to identify, advise and treat these patients.Because of the complex interaction between skin and psyche, it is difficult to distinguish whether the primary problem is the skin or the psyche. Sometimes the clinical picture is a consequence of interactions between them and other factors.The interactions between skin and psyche are well known in history, art and literature – perhaps better known today because the marked emphasis on such images in our modern multimedia society. Aging is increasingly perceived as an illness and not as a physiological process. Through globalization, many different cultural approaches to the skin have entered in our daily life and influence our communication. This article considers the most important dermatoses which often show primary or secondary interaction with the psyche.
Feeding value of supplemented diet with black tea by‐product silage: Effect of polyethylene glycol addition to the diet on digestibility of protein fractions in goats
Authors: Kondo Makoto , Hidaka Miho , Kita Kazumi , Yokota Hiro‐omi 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe feeding value of black tea by‐product silage was studied both in vitro and in vivo. To estimate the effect of tannins in black tea by‐product on nutrient digestibility, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was also given to goats as a tannin‐binding agent. Regarding in vitro ruminal fermentation, supplementation of black tea by‐products silage to basal substrates at more than 1% on a dry matter (DM) basis decreased the ammonia‐N (NH3‐N) concentration in the medium, indicating that black tea by‐products suppressed protein degradation in rumen. In the in vivo digestibility trial, six castrated goats were fed diets of timothy hay + soybean meal (control), control + black tea by‐product silage (+BTS), and control + black tea by‐product silage + PEG (+PEG) in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. Black tea by‐product silage was supplemented to the control diet at 5% on a DM basis. Black tea by‐product silage supply significantly decreased crude protein (CP) digestibility compared to the control diet (63.9 vs 67.5%), but the diminished digestibility tended to be improved by PEG addition (66.5%). Acid detergent insoluble N (ADIN) was slightly digested in control (1.5%), but the digestibility was negative (–19.1%) in +BTS. On the other hand, addition of PEG clearly improved the ADIN digestibility (2.9%). Urinary N output and ruminal NH3‐N concentration was altered in neither +BTS nor +PEG. Fecal N output was significantly higher in +BTS than in control, but it tended to be lower in +PEG. The amount of retained N was the highest in +PEG, followed by +BTS and control. This study confirmed indirectly that chemical compound in black tea by‐product silage that lowered protein digestibility was tannins. It was suggested that offering black tea by‐products silage at a 5% rate in a diet was such a high level that fecal N output was increased by tannin‐protein bindings fractionated as ADIN.
Genetic relationship estimation in guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) assessed on the basis of simple sequence repeat markers
Authors: Ebina Masumi , Kouki Kaori , Tsuruta Shin‐ichi , Akashi Ryo , Yamamoto Toshiya , Takahara Manabu , Inafuku Masahito , Okumura Kenji , Nakagawa Hitoshi , Nakajima Kousuke 
Published: September 2007

AbstractEstimation of genetic relationship for the efficient genetic resources utilization in the breeding programs of guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) is of utmost importance. Thirteen simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, developed from genomic and cDNA clones, were successfully employed for estimating genetic relationship in guineagrass based on the analysis of 77 accessions. A genomic library enriched for (AG)/(TC) and expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences were screened for repeat motifs in guineagrass. A total of 13 SSR markers including eight from genomic clones and five from EST, were developed. Of these, eight, four and one SSR markers have perfect, interrupted and compound repeat motifs, respectively. One SSR has trinucleotide repeat motif of AGT, whereas the other 12 markers have dinucleotide motif of AG. The 13 SSR primer sets produced 1–4 amplified fragments within accessions, putatively corresponding to alleles derived from autotetraploidy of guineagrass. One hundred and ninety putative alleles were generated by 13 SSR in the 77 guineagrass accessions assayed. The values of power of discrimination (PD) ranged 0.449–0.968 with an average value of 0.859. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged 0.399–0.951. A phenogram of 77 guineagrass accessions obtained based on the genetic similarity with 13 SSR, revealed six major groups. The results suggested that the center of original region of guineagrass is Kenya, which agrees with an earlier study based on morphological analysis. The wide distribution of the guineagrass accessions strongly supports the assumption of intercrossing with the diploid sexual materials in natural habitat.
Local variation in soil microbial community structure in seminatural and artificial grasslands
Authors: Hossain M. Zabed , Okubo Atsushi , Sugiyama Shu‐ichi 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAlthough above‐ground and below‐ground biological communities have mutual functional links, less is known about structural relationships between them. This study examines how soil microbial community structure is related to plant vegetation types and soil fertility in seminatural and artificial grasslands of Shiriyazaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Soil microbial community structure was analyzed by profiles of phospholipids fatty acid (PLFA). Soil nitrogen and phosphorus contents were much higher in artificial grasslands than in seminatural grasslands. Seminatural and artificial grasslands showed significant differences between them in relative abundances of six PLFA peaks out of 16 peaks used in this study. Seminatural grasslands consist of two distinctive vegetation types depending on grazing intensity: short‐grass vegetation and tall‐grass vegetation. Although plant species composition largely differed between the short‐grass and tall‐grass vegetation types, the soil microbial community structure did not show a significant difference between them. These results indicate strong influences of human management on the soil microbial community.
THE EFFECT OF SODIUM NITRITE ON THE TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF COOKED SAUSAGE DURING COLD STORAGE
Authors: DONG QING‐LI , TU KANG , GUO LI‐YANG , YANG JIA‐LI , WANG HAI , CHEN YU‐YAN 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the effect of sodium nitrite on the textural properties of cooked pork sausage during 0–21 days at 0–4C storage. Frankfurter‐type cooked sausages were prepared at four levels of sodium nitrite (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg). Texture profile analysis (TPA) attributes of cooked sausages changed as a result of different nitrite additions. Nitrite content was negatively correlated significantly with hardness and adhesiveness (P < 0.01), positively with cohesiveness (P < 0.01), springiness and resilience (P < 0.05). Furthermore, a principal component analysis was applied for reducing variables, based on the correlation of nitrite content and TPA parameters. It indicated that principal component 1 accounted for 65% reprehensive of hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness and resilience, and principal component 2 accounted for 16% relating mainly to chewiness. These two factors can explain the instrumental TPA attributes of cooked sausages by different sodium nitrite added during 21‐day cold storage.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe effect of sodium nitrite on the textural properties of cooked sausage could be valuable to the meat industry in order to select the appropriate nitrite addition for improving the texture of sausage. Principal component analysis used in this article may provide a good statistical method in reducing and explaining textural parameters. Moreover, this research could be useful to the further study of the effect of nitrite on cured meat products, and to provide information and experimental results to solve the “nitrite problem” in practice.
MECHANICAL MEASUREMENTS IN PUFFED RICE CAKES
Authors: LAURINDO JOÃO B. , PELEG MICHA 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACT Puffed rice cakes of a national brand, plain, chocolate and cinnamon, were compressed with an Instron Universal Testing Machine (Canton, MA) to 80% deformation, dry and after moisture equilibration at 85% relative humidity. The dry cakes' engineering stress–strain relationships all had a sigmoid shape characteristic to solid cellular materials. They could be described mathematically by a double‐power model, which had been originally developed for bread crumb and soft synthetic foams. At strains above about 50%, the stress had noticeable random fluctuations, whose amplitude progressively increased. These stress fluctuations were most probably records of closed cells bursting. Upon moisture sorption, the prominent shoulder in the stress–strain relationship almost completely disappeared, and the recorded overall stress levels dropped considerably. This plasticizing effect of water was also manifested in the stress‐relaxation pattern of the compacted cakes. The wet samples' stress decay rate was much faster than that of the dry, and their residual stresses reached a much lower level. These observations suggest that the compressive properties of rice cakes can be determined and analyzed by the same general methods that are used for synthetic cellular solids, and that the effect of moisture on their texture can be assessed in terms of the overall stress level at comparable strain, modulus of deformability of the “intact specimen” and the compact's “degree of solidity,” which can be derived from its stress relaxation pattern. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSPuffed crunchy cereals and snacks, including rice cakes, are popular foods in many countries, “crunchiness” being their unique attraction. Its objective characterization by instrumental methods and how it might be affected by composition and moisture are of great interest to numerous food companies. The compressibility of rice cakes is governed, simultaneously, by solid foam deformation and multifracture mechanics. The result is force–displacement curves that are both irregular and irreproducible, but which still have certain idiosyncratic characteristics. Their identification and interpretation are crucial to quality control and product development. The special tools to do that include mathematical models to characterize the mechanical signature's overall shape, in order to quantify the cakes' stiffness, and time series analysis, in order to assess the role of brittleness. For the methodology implementation, other factors, such as the “averaging effect” on random events and “glass transition,” also had to be taken into account as demonstrated.
Definitional Transgression, or the Revenge of the Vernacular in Hindu Tantric Studies
Authors: Elmore Mark 
Published: September 2007

AbstractUntil recently the concerns of Sanskritists, esotericists, and philosophers have dominated the academic study of Hindu tantra. Now scholars increasingly focus on ritual practice, living traditions, and vernacular texts. These new concerns have radically recast how Hindu tantra and its impact on South Asian history are visualized. Where before scholars represented Hindu tantra as an elite discourse with little social impact, now many understand it as the warp on which South Asian history was woven.
Ex Vivo Fluorescence Imaging of Normal and Malignant Urothelial Cells to Enhance Early Diagnosis
Authors: Steenkeste Karine , Lécart Sandrine , Deniset Ariane , Pernot Pascal , Eschwège Pascal , Ferlicot Sophie , Lévêque‐Fort Sandrine , Briandet Romain , Fontaine‐Aupart Marie‐Pierre 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTUrinary cytology is a noninvasive and unconstraining technique for urothelial cancer diagnosis but lacks sensitivity for detecting low‐grade lesions. In this study, the fluorescence properties of classical Papanicolaou‐stained urothelial cytological slides from patients or from cell lines were monitored to investigate metabolic changes in normal and tumoral cells. Time‐ and spectrally‐resolved fluorescence imaging was performed at the single cell level to assess the spectral and temporal properties as well as the spatial distribution of the fluorescence emitted by urothelial cells. The results reveal quite different fluorescence distributions between tumoral urothelial cells, characterized by a perimembrane fluorescence localization, and the normal cells which exhibit an intracellular fluorescence. This is not caused by differences in the fluorescence emission of the endogenous fluorophores NAD(P)H, flavoproteins or porphyrins but by various localization of the EA 50 Papanicolaou stain as revealed by both the spectral and time‐resolved parameters. The present results demonstrate that the use of single‐cell endofluorescence emission of Papanicolaou‐stained urothelial cytological slides can allow an early ex vivo diagnosis of low‐grade bladder cancers.
Photophysical Properties of Ricin
Authors: Gaigalas A.K. , Cole K.D. , Bykadi S. , Wang Lili , DeRose Paul 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTThe molar absorption coefficient of ricin in phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) at 279 nm was measured as (93 900 ± 3300) L mol−1 cm−1. The concentration of ricin was determined using amino acid analysis. The absorption spectrum of ricin was interpreted in terms of 69% contribution from absorption by tryptophan residues and 31% contribution from absorption by tyrosine residues. The total dipole strength of the ricin band at 280 nm was determined to be (147 ± 8) D2 and was consistent with the combined dipole strengths of 10 tryptophan ([11.7 ± 1.0] D2) and 23 tyrosine ([1.4 ± 0.2] D2) residues. The structure of ricin was used to determine the coupling of the tryptophan residues in ricin. The maximum interaction energy was found to be 424 cm−1/ɛ while the average interaction between any two pairs of tryptophan residues was approximately 18 cm−1/ɛ. In this study, ɛ is the dielectric constant inside the protein. The fluorescence from ricin, excited at 280 nm, was dominated by fluorescence from tryptophan residues suggesting the presence of energy transfer from tyrosine to tryptophan residues. The absorbance and fluorescence of ricin increased slightly when ricin was denatured in a high concentration of guanidine. Irreversible thermal unfolding of ricin occurred between 65°C and 70°C.(D = 3.3364*10−30 Cm, not SI unit, convenient unit for the magnitude of the electric dipole moment of molecules.)
Isovitexin‐2″‐O‐β‐[6‐O‐E‐p‐coumaroylglucopyranoside] from UV‐B irradiated Leaves of Rice, Oryza sativa L. Inhibits Fertility of Helicoverpa armigera
Authors: Caasi‐Lit Merdelyn T. , Tanner Gregory J. , Nayudu Murali , Whitecross Malcolm I. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractUV‐B irradiated rice leaves (Oryza sativa L.) contained four closely related flavonoids, with either an isoorientin or isovitexin aglycone. These flavonoids have previously been purified and characterized, and were added to artificial diets of the African bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera Hübner) at 0.1× concentration found in irradiated rice leaves. Consumption of different diets had relatively small effects on laval, pupal and adult duration, weight and survival, indicating the insects lived near normal life cycles on all diets. However, one of the compounds, flavonoid IIa, isovitexin‐2″‐O‐β‐[6‐O‐E‐p‐coumaroylglucopyranoside], dramatically reduced the number of fertile eggs laid to 7% of control insects (P < 0.001) when added to insect diets at 18 nmol gFW−1 (14 ppm). A similar antifertility effect was observed when only the male partner consumed diet containing flavonoid IIa, indicating that the reduced fertility may be male specific. In contrast, the fecundity and fertility of insects eating diets containing the closely related flavonoids, isoorientin‐2″‐O‐β‐[6‐O‐E‐p‐coumaroylglucopyranoside] or isoorientin‐2″‐O‐β‐[6‐O‐E‐p‐feruloylglucopyranoside], were not significantly different to control diets.
Seasonal Erythemal UV Doses in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Authors: Silva Abel A. , Gabrich Lívia L. P. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe ultraviolet radiation (UVR) emitted by the Sun causes many effects on the biosphere. On human beings they vary from the benefit of vitamin D synthesis to the harm of skin cancer induction. The biological dose depends on the effect, the exposure time to the Sun and the amount of UVR received. In this work we show that the measured incidence of erythemal dose (ED) in Belo Horizonte (19.92°S, 43.94°W, 858 m a.s.l., Brazil) for a cloudless day can vary from 7503 to 2926 J m−2 in the summer–winter seasonal variation. In addition, supposing a linear relationship between the ED and the geophysical parameters of solar zenith angle cosine (cos(SZA)), column ozone and reflectivity from the ozone monitoring instrument overpass measurements, a model for the forecast of UVR incidence on a monthly‐based period is developed. From this an annual ED of 1 451 099 J m−2 is obtained.