bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of Penile Fibrosis
Authors: Gonzalez-Cadavid Nestor F. 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Penile fibrosis has been conceptually identified with the plaque that develops in the tunica albuginea in Peyronie’s disease (PD), or with localized processes induced in the corpora cavernosa by ischemic or traumatic events. Recently, it has been proposed that a diffuse, progressive, and milder intracorporal fibrosis, which affects also the media of the penile arteries, is responsible for vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) associated with aging, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and post-radical prostatectomy. These processes differ in etiology, time course, target cells, and treatment, but have many features in common.

Aim
To review the literature pertaining to fibrosis in the penis, related to PD and ED.

Methods
PubMed search for pertinent publications mainly during 2001–2008.

Results
This review focuses initially on PD and then deals with studies on ED in animal and cell culture models, discussing some of the pathophysiological similarities between tunical fibrosis in PD and corporal fibrosis in corporal veno-occlusive dysfunction (CVOD), and emerging therapeutic strategies. The role of profibrotic factors, the excessive deposit of collagen fibers and other extracellular matrix, the appearance of a synthetic cell phenotype in smooth muscle cells or the onset of a fibroblast–myofibroblast transition, and in the case of the corporal or penile arterial tissue the reduction of the smooth muscle cellular compartment, are discussed. This histopathology leads either to localized plaques or nodules in penile tissues, or to the diffuse fibrosis causing impairment of tissue compliance that underlies CVOD and arteriogenic ED. The antifibrotic role of the sustained stimulation of the nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway in the penis and its possible relevance to exogenous and endogenous stem cell differentiation is also briefly presented.

Conclusions
Fibrotic processes in penile tissues share a similar cellular and molecular pathophysiology and common endogenous mechanisms of defense that have inspired novel pharmacological experimental approaches.
Continuing Medical Education: The Use of Estrogen Therapy in Women’s Sexual Functioning (CME)
Authors: Nappi Rossella E. , Polatti Franco 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Estrogen is relevant to women’s well-being including sexual functioning.

Aim
The goal of this Continuing Medical Education article was to provide a comprehensive review of the effect of exogenous estrogen use on women’s sexual function.

Main Outcome Measures
We present a literature review.

Methods
The medical literature was accurately searched (1990–2008) with regard to estrogen therapy in menopausal women by using several terms related to and including the terms “estrogen” and “sexual function.”

Results
A review of the studies most useful to guide menopausal practice.

Conclusions
Estrogen decline is one of the key factors contributing to sexual functioning during menopausal transition and beyond. Systemic estrogen treatments are associated with significant benefits in some domains of menopausal sexual function, especially when estradiol is delivered transdermally, whereas local estrogens are effective in preventing urogenital aging. Even tibolone, a selective tissue estrogenic activity regulator, displays positive effects in postmenopausal women with sexual complaints. However, a tailored approach to the individual woman is always needed.
Oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas in young patients in a selected Malaysian centre
Authors: AHMAD Hafeza , JABAR Nazimi A , RAHMAN Normastura A , RAHMAN Roslan A , SHA Primuharsa Putra , RAMLI Roszalina 
Published: February 2009

AbstractAim:  This study aims to evaluate the demographics, to analyze the clinical and pathological findings, treatment and the outcome of oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) in patients aged 40‐years old and below in our centre.Methods:  Records of patients who were diagnosed with OSCC in the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from 1998 to 2003 were analyzed. Their socioeconomic data such as their age, gender and race, risk factors, family history and genetic predisposition were assessed. Other data examined included the sites and stage of the tumor, histopathology results, treatment modality and outcome of OSCC.Results:  There were 19 patients with no gender predilection. Malays made up most patients diagnosed with OSCC, followed by Chinese and Indians. There was no significant high‐risk habit in this group. Most of the sites involved were the tongue (73.7%), buccal mucosa (15.8%) and alveolus (10.5%). Most of the patients (57.9%) were diagnosed with stage IV disease. Eighteen patients underwent treatment consisting of surgery or radiotherapy or in combination. A 5‐year follow up revealed that nine patients (47.3%) survived and remain well, four patients (21.1%) had a recurrence, two patients (10.5%) died of the disease.Conclusion:  The majority of patients presented with stage IV disease without any significant high‐risk habit. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment, however, 5‐year follow‐up showed a less than 50% survival rate.
First-in-Human Trial Participants: Not a Vulnerable Population, but Vulnerable Nonetheless
Authors: Dresser Rebecca 
Published: February 2009

Translational science is a 21st century mission. Government officials and industry leaders are making huge investments in an attempt to transform more basic science discoveries into therapeutic applications. Scientists and policymakers express great excitement about the medical advances that could come with the current bench-to-bedside campaign.A key step in translational science is the move from animal and other preclinical studies to initial human testing. Researchers ability to predict human effects is limited, and first-in-human (FIH) tests present significant uncertainty. Participants in this form of research face risks and can experience serious, even lethal, harm. Well-known incidents involving Jolee Mohr and Jesse Gelsinger, as well as subjects in the 2006 study of the investigational agent TGN1412, show the dangers that can arise in early human research.The bench-to-bedside campaign will need many volunteers to participate in early human testing. Investigators and regulators must not allow the policy enthusiasm for translational science to overshadow the commitment to protect human subjects. Participants in exploratory research are diverse and as a group lack characteristics usually associated with vulnerable populations, such as impaired decisional ability or economic or educational disadvantage.
Vulnerable Brains: Research Ethics and Neurosurgical Patients
Authors: Ford Paul J. 
Published: February 2009

The vulnerability of patients receiving significantly innovative neurosurgical procedures, either as research or as non-standard therapy, presents particularly potent challenges for those attempting to substantially advance clinical Neurosurgical practice in the most ethically and efficacious manner. This beginning formulation has built into it several important notions about research participation, balancing values, and clinical advancement in the context of neurological illness. For the time being, allow vulnerability to act as a placeholder for circumstances or states of being wherein the established checks and balances of power and interest are no longer sufficient in promoting the just treatment of persons. Further, the phrase to substantially advance Neurosurgical practice encompasses radical innovation as well as significant research into new procedures. Finally, few of these explorations involve true randomized placebo controlled trials, but rather they enroll patients rightfully hoping for some benefit by means of undergoing the procedure.When a neurosurgeon asks me, as an ethicist, to meet with a patient who has medically refractory disease and no good standard therapy options remaining, he is asking for help concerning whether to offer, as a last chance, an unproven therapy as either innovation or research.
iPLEDGE Allegiance to the Pill: Evaluation of Year 1 of a Birth Defect Prevention and Monitoring System
Authors: Schonfeld Toby L. , Amoura N. Jean , Kratochvil Christopher J. 
Published: February 2009

Following the widespread occurrence of birth defects from the use of thalidomide to treat nausea during pregnancy in the 1960s and 1970s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) became particularly vigilant about the use of therapeutic agents during pregnancy and in women of childbearing potential. The FDA developed a list that categorizes an agent according to the known (and potential unknown) risks to a fetus. The drug thalidomide falls into Category X: agents that have demonstrated clear risk of fetal abnormalities and whose risks outweigh the benefits of use during pregnancy.Another Category X drug is isotretinoin, commonly known by its trade name Accutane. Isotretinoin is an oral medication prescribed for severe recalcitrant, nodular acne in patients who are unresponsive to conventional therapy. Isotretinoin has been available since 1982, and it remains the only effective treatment for this condition.
Currents in Contemporary Ethics
Authors: Harrell Heather 
Published: February 2009

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine burst onto the market and the legislative scene nearly simultaneously. Marketed as an amazing medical breakthrough, the vaccine GARDASIL prevents infection with four strains of Human Papillomavirus in nave populations; these four strains are responsible for 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. Although most agreed that the vaccine was a wonderful medical advancement with the potential to save women's lives, there was strong disagreement about and a vocal public response to legislative attempts to require girls to receive HPV vaccines for school attendance.The strong public response to HPV vaccine mandates partially stemmed from the sense that this vaccine is different from previously mandated vaccines because it attempts to prevent disease whose sole route of transmission is through sexual contact. Most other diseases covered by mandated vaccines are spread through the air, with little an individual can do in altering their behavior to prevent infection.
The Causative Alternation
Authors: Schäfer Florian 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThis article discusses the transitivity alternation between lexical causative verbs and their anticausative (inchoative) counterparts. It provides an overview of the semantic, syntactic and morphological properties of verbs undergoing the causative alternation, thereby identifying their cross‐linguistically stable core as well as the areas of variation among languages. The main theoretical lines of analysis proposed in the literature are introduced by an exemplary discussion of accounts within lexical and syntactic frameworks of word formation. The article serves as an introduction to the research on the causative alternation as it presents important results achieved in the earlier literature, but also touches upon more recent findings and their theoretical interpretation. Finally, it addresses the aspects that still await a conclusive analysis.
Coupling Between the Retinal Thermal Isomerization and the Glu194 Residue of Bacteriorhodopsin†
Authors: Lazarova Tzvetana , Querol Enric , Padrós Esteve 
Published: February 2009

AbstractGlu194 is a residue located at the end of F helix on the extracellular side of the light‐induced proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (BR). Currently, it is well recognized that Glu194 and Glu204 residues, along with water clusters, constitute the proton release group of BR. Here we report that the replacement of Glu194 for Gln affects not only the photocycle of the protein but also has tremendous effect on the all‐trans to 13‐cis thermal isomerization. We studied the pH dependence of the dark adaptation of the E194Q mutant and performed HPLC analysis of the isomer compositions of the light‐ and partially dark‐adapted states of the mutant at several pH values. Our data confirmed that E194Q exhibits extremely slow dark adaptation over a wide range of pH. HPLC data showed that a significantly larger concentration of all‐trans isomer was present in the samples of the E194Q mutant even after prolonged dark adaptation. After 14 days in the dark the 13‐cis to all‐trans ratio was 1:3 in the mutant, compared to 2:1 in the wild type. These data clearly indicate the involvement of Glu194 in control of the rate of all‐trans to 13‐cis thermal isomerization.
Genetic Aspects of the Manto‐type Copper Deposits Based on Geochemical Studies of North Chilean Deposits
Authors: Kojima Shoji , Trista‐Aguilera Dania , Hayashi Ken‐ichiro 
Published: February 2009

AbstractRecent studies on mineralogy, geochronology, fluid inclusion and stable isotope (Pb, Os, S, C, O, Sr) characteristics were reviewed to determine constraints for genetic models of the Chilean manto‐type copper deposits. The Chilean manto‐type deposits are divided into the two geologic categories of the northern areas (Arica–Iquique, Tocopilla–Taltal) and the central areas (Copiapó, La Serena, Santiago). The former is distributed in the coastal range composed of Jurassic andesite‐dominated volcano‐sedimentary piles and younger plutonic intrusions, and yields chalcocite (‐digenite) and bornite as the principal hypogene copper sulfides. The latter is hosted mostly in Lower Cretaceous volcano‐sedimentary sequences, and has chalcopyrite‐rich mineral associations. The fluid inclusion data indicate that the primary copper mineralization was commonly generated in the temperature range 150–360°C under low‐pressure conditions near the boiling curve, mediated with relatively saline brines. Generally, homogeneous Pb and S isotope compositions for primary copper minerals imply direct magma source or leaching of igneous rocks. Pb and Os isotope data published for some deposits, however, suggest that ore‐forming metals were derived mainly from the volcano‐sedimentary host rocks. The noticeably negative isotope ratios of primary sulfide sulfur and hydrothermal calcite carbon of some central area deposits indicate influx of sedimentary rock components, and the high 87Sr/86Sr initial ratios of hydrothermal calcite from the Tocopilla–Taltal area deposits imply contribution of the contemporaneous seawater or marine carbonates. These isotopic constraints imply a formation mechanism in which the Chilean manto‐type copper deposits formed epigenetically in the process of hydrothermal interaction of non‐magmatic surface‐derived brine with the volcano‐sedimentary host rocks, which is inferred to have been induced by a deep‐seated plutonic complex as the possible heat source.
Occurrence of Uraniferous Iron Grains at Gabal Gattar, El Missikat and El Erediya Granites in Eastern Desert of Egypt
Authors: Raslan Mohamed F. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractUraniferous iron grains occur in some radioactive granite plutons in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Modal analysis of these grains indicates that weight abundance of uraniferous grains amounts to 17.50%, 18.00% and 26.00% of the total accessory heavy minerals of the uranium‐mineralized samples of Gabal Gattar, El Missikat and El Erediya, respectively. These grains are mainly restricted to shear zones associated with strong hematitization, and occur either as fracture fillings or as interstitial grains among the main rock‐forming minerals. Uraniferous iron grains are mainly composed of uranophane and β‐uranophane coated and stained with limonite. These grains represent the main radioactive minerals in addition to the bright canary yellow to yellow uranophane and β‐uranophane mineral grains. The data obtained on scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis confirm the abundance of iron in the darker colored varieties with respect to the light colored varieties. This mode of occurrence of the uranium minerals requires special consideration during mineral processing by physical means.
Isolation and characterization of new microsatellite markers for rose bitterlings, Rhodeus ocellatus
Authors: SHIRAI Y. , IKEDA S. , TAJIMA S. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe Japanese rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus kurumeus) is facing imminent extinction because of hybridization and competition from an invasive alien subspecies (Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus). Eleven new microsatellite markers for the two subspecies were developed using dinucleotide repeat specific polymerase chain reaction. The number of alleles per locus and the heterozygosity in R. o. kurumeus were lower than those in R. o. ocellatus. Most of these microsatellite markers were successfully cross‐amplified in three Acheilognathinae species.
Characterization of single nucleotide polymorphism markers for the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Authors: RODEN SUZANNE E. , DUTTON PETER H. , MORIN PHILLIP A. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractWe present data on 29 new single nucleotide polymorphism assays for the green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas. DNA extracts from 39 green turtles were used for two methods of single nucleotide polymorphism discovery. The first approach employed an amplified fragment length polymorphism technique. The second technique screened a microsatellite library. Allele‐specific amplification assays were developed for high‐throughput single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping and tested on two Pacific C. mydas nesting populations. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 0.95 for a Hawaiian population and from 0 to 0.85 for a Galapagos population. Each of the populations had one locus out of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, SSCM2b and SSCM5 for Hawaii and Galapagos, respectively. No loci showed significant genotypic linkage disequilibrium across an expanded set of four Pacific nesting populations. However, two loci, SSCM4 and SSCM10b showed linkage disequilibrium across three populations indicating possible association.
A combination of techniques proves useful in the development of nuclear markers in the newt genus Triturus
Authors: ESPREGUEIRA THEMUDO G. , BABIK W. , ARNTZEN J. W. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractTo increase the number of markers available for study of phylogeny and phylogeography in the newt genus Triturus, we developed and tested 59 primer pairs using three different techniques. Primers were obtained from published sources, by designing exon‐primed intron‐crossing primers and from randomly cloned anonymous nuclear DNA fragments. Successful polymerase chain reaction products were cloned and sequenced. Five fragments were successfully amplified and sequenced for six species of Triturus: intron 7 of the β‐fibrinogen gene (βfibint7), third intron of the calreticulin gene (CalintC), the 11th intron of the α‐subunit of the platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFRα) and two anonymous markers (Cri1 and Cri4). The average percentage species divergence across all the markers is low (c. 3%), compared to what has been found in mitochondrial DNA (25–30%).
Identifying gastropod spawn from DNA barcodes: possible but not yet practicable
Authors: PUILLANDRE N , STRONG E. E. , BOUCHET P. , BOISSELIER M.‐C. , COULOUX A. , SAMADI S 
Published: February 2009

AbstractIdentifying life stages of species with complex life histories is problematic as species are often only known and/or described from a single stage. DNA barcoding has been touted as an important tool for linking life‐history stages of the same species. To test the current efficacy of DNA barcodes for identifying unknown mollusk life stages, 24 marine gastropod egg capsules were collected off the Philippines in deep water and sequenced for partial fragments of the COI, 16S and 12S mitochondrial genes. Two egg capsules of known shallow‐water Mediterranean species were used to calibrate the method. These sequences were compared to those available in GenBank and the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Using COI sequences alone, only a single Mediterranean egg capsule was identified to species, and a single Philippine egg capsule was identified tentatively to genus; all other COI sequences recovered matches between 76% and 90% with sequences from BOLD and GenBank. Similarity‐based identification using all three markers confirmed the Mediterranean specimens’ identifications. A phylogenetic approach was also implemented to confirm similarity‐based identifications and provide a higher‐taxonomic identification when species‐level identifications were not possible. Comparison of available GenBank sequences to the diversity curve of a well‐sampled coral reef habitat in New Caledonia highlights the poor taxonomic coverage achieved at present in existing genetic databases, emphasizing the need to develop DNA barcoding projects for megadiverse and often taxonomically challenging groups such as mollusks, to fully realize its potential as an identification and discovery tool.
Development of 11 polymorphic microsatellite markers in a macrophyte of conservation concern, Vallisneria americana Michaux (Hydrocharitaceae)
Authors: BURNETT JR ROBERT K. , LLOYD MICHAEL W. , ENGELHARDT KATHARINA A. M. , NEEL MAILE C. 
Published: February 2009

Abstract Vallisneria americana Michaux (wild celery) is currently a target of submersed aquatic vegetation restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. To aid these efforts, we have developed 11 polymorphic microsatellite markers to assess the distribution and degree of genetic diversity in both restored and naturally occurring populations in the Chesapeake Bay. In 59 individuals from two populations, we detected two to 10 total alleles per locus. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.125 to 0.929, and two loci exhibited significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in at least one of the populations assayed.
Microsatellite loci from the endemic Southern Ocean octopus Adelieledone polymorpha (Robson, 1930)
Authors: STRUGNELL JAN M. , ALLCOCK A. LOUISE , WATTS PHILLIP C. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractTo determine the pattern of spatial genetic structure in the endemic Southern Ocean octopus Adelieledone polymorpha, microsatellite loci were isolated from partial genomic libraries enriched for repetitive DNA motifs. Seven dinucleotide and two trinucleotide microsatellite loci were isolated successfully and levels of polymorphism were quantified in 34 individuals sampled from the Southern Ocean near South Georgia. No pairs of microsatellite loci were linked significantly; however, one locus deviated (P < 0.05) from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Overall, the nine loci produced between five and 16 alleles, with observed and expected heterozygosities varying between 0.22 and 0.86 and between 0.21 and 0.94 respectively. This is the first description of microsatellite loci from an octopus endemic to the Southern Ocean, and these genetic markers are being used to quantify spatial structure within A. polymorpha.
Characterization and cross‐amplification of 13 microsatellite loci in the northern pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pinivora (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae)
Authors: CASSEL‐LUNDHAGEN ANNA , RONNÅS CECILIA , FRAUENFELDER NATHALIE 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThirteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed for the northern pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pinivora) and tested for cross‐amplification in seven other species within the Thaumetopoea family. Number of alleles ranged from two to 10 when at least 28 individuals from one population were screened and one locus, Thapin06, appears to be sex linked. Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.094 to 0.856 and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.097 to 0.806. Amplification success varied between sister species, with two up to seven loci being successfully amplified. The described loci will be valuable for studying the population genetic structure and dispersal behaviour of this forest pest.