bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Regulation of conceptus adhesion by endometrial CXC chemokines during the implantation period in sheep
Authors: Imakawa Kazuhiko , Imai Misa , Sakai Akiharu , Suzuki Masako , Nagaoka Kentaro , Sakai Senkiti , Lee Sang‐Rae , Chang Kyu‐Tae , Echternkamp Sherrill E. , Christenson Ronald K. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractTo gain a better understanding of biochemical mechanisms of conceptus adhesion to the maternal endometrium in ruminant ungulates, the present study was performed to clarify roles of chemokines and extracellular matrix (ECM) components in the regulation of ovine blastocyst attachment to the endometrium. In addition to the chemokine, interferon‐γ inducible protein 10 kDa (IP‐10, CXCL10), the chemokine receptor, CXCR3, also recognizes two other chemokines; monokine induced by IFN‐γ (MIG, CXCL9) and IFN‐inducible T cell α chemoattractant (I‐TAC, CXCL11). Similar to CXCL10, CXCL9, and CXCL11 were expressed in the uterus during the peri‐implantation period, and CXCL9 mRNA expression was stimulated in endometrial explants from day 14 cyclic ewes by the addition of IFN‐τ or IFN‐γ. Without ECM components, conceptus cell adhesion was low on day 14 of gestation and exhibited a 2.5‐fold increase on day 17; adhesiveness on day 20 was 1/10 of that on day 14. Among various ECM components examined, trophoblast adhesion was greatest when fibronectin was used. Although day 14 conceptuses did not show much adhesive activity to fibronectin, day 17 trophoblast, and day 20 chorionic membrane exhibited 2.3‐fold and 50‐fold increase, respectively, which was enhanced by treatment with CXCL9 or CXCL10. These results indicate that through endometrial fibronectin and chemokines, ovine conceptus cells gain the ability to attach to the endometrium during pre‐implantation period; however, elucidation of molecular mechanisms by which the conceptus acquires the adhesive ability during this time period awaits further investigation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Further steps toward direct magnetic resonance (MR) imaging detection of neural action currents: Optimization of MR sensitivity to transient and weak currents in a conductor
Authors: Pell Gaby S. , Abbott David F. , Fleming Steven W. , Prichard James W. , Jackson Graeme D. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe characteristics of an MRI technique that could be used for direct detection of neuronal activity are investigated. It was shown that magnitude imaging using echo planar imaging can detect transient local currents. The sensitivity of this method was thoroughly investigated. A partial k‐space EPI acquisition with homodyne reconstruction was found to increase the signal change. A unique sensitivity to the position of the current pulse within the imaging sequence was demonstrated with the greatest signal change occurring when the current pulse coincides with the acquisition of the center lines of k‐space. The signal change was shown to be highly sensitive to the spatial position of the current conductor relative to the voxel. Furthermore, with the use of optimization of spatial and temporal placement of the current pulse, the level of signal change obtained at this lower limit of current detectability was considerably magnified. It was possible to detect a current of 1.7 μA applied for 20 ms with an imaging time of 1.8 min. The level of sensitivity observed in our study brings us closer to that theoretically required for the detection of action currents in nerves. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Unaliasing lipid contamination for MR spectroscopic imaging of gliomas at 3T using sensitivity encoding (SENSE)
Authors: Ozturk‐Isik Esin , Crane Jason C. , Cha Soonmee , Chang Susan M. , Berger Mitchel S. , Nelson Sarah J. 
Published: April 2006

Abstract3D magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has been successfully employed to extract information about brain tumor metabolism, such as cell membrane breakdown, cellular energetics, and neuronal integrity, through its ability to differentiate signals coming from choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), and N‐acetyl aspartate (NAA) molecules. The additional presence of lipids within subregions of the tumor may indicate cellular membrane breakdown due to cell death. Another potential source of lipids is subcutaneous fat, which may be excited with point‐resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) volume selection and aliased into the spectral field of view (FOV) due to the chemical shift artifact and the low bandwidth of the selection pulses. The purpose of our study was to employ a postprocessing method for unaliasing lipid resonances originating from in‐slice subcutaneous lipids from the 3D MRSI of gliomas at 3T, using an eight‐channel phased‐array coil and sensitivity encoding (SENSE). Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fast spin echo sequences with very long echo trains: Design of variable refocusing flip angle schedules and generation of clinical T2 contrast
Authors: Busse Reed F. , Hariharan Hari , Vu Anthony , Brittain Jean H. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractReducing and continuously varying the flip angle of the refocusing RF pulses in a rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE; fast/turbo spin echo) sequence is a useful means of addressing high RF power deposition and modulation transfer function (MTF) distortion due to relaxation. This work presents a streamlined technique to generate a sequence of refocusing flip angles on a per‐prescription basis that produces relatively high SNR and limits blurring in a wide range of materials encountered in vivo. Since the “effective TE” (traditionally defined as the time at which the center of k‐space is sampled) no longer corresponds to the expected amount of spin‐echo T2 contrast due to the mixing of stimulated and spin echoes, a “contrast‐equivalent” TE is defined and experimentally demonstrated that allows annotation of a more accurate effective TE that matches the contrast produced by 180° refocusing. Furthermore, contrast is shown to be manipulable by the addition of magnetization preparation pulse sequence segments, such as T2‐prep, to produce clinically desirable contrast for routine head and body imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
In vivo quantitative three‐dimensional motion mapping of the murine myocardium with PC‐MRI at 17.6 T
Authors: Herold Volker , Mörchel Philipp , Faber Cornelius , Rommel Eberhard , Haase Axel , Jakob Peter M. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis work presents a method that allows for the assessment of 3D murine myocardial motion in vivo at microscopic resolution. Phase‐contrast (PC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 17.6 T was applied to map myocardial motion in healthy mice along three gradient directions. High‐resolution velocity maps were acquired at three different levels in the murine myocardium with an in‐plane resolution of 98 μm, a slice thickness of 0.6 mm, and a temporal resolution of 6 ms. The applied PC‐MRI method was validated with phantom experiments that confirmed the correctness of the method with deviations of <1.7%. Myocardial in‐plane velocities between 0.5 cm/s and 2.2 cm/s were determined for the healthy murine myocardium. Through‐plane velocities of 0.1–0.83 cm/s were measured. Velocity data was also used to calculate the myocardial twist angle during systole at different slices in the short‐axis view. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Quantification of cerebral arterial blood volume using arterial spin labeling with intravoxel incoherent motion‐sensitive gradients
Authors: Kim Tae , Kim Seong‐Gi 
Published: April 2006

AbstractQuantification of cerebral arterial blood volume (CBVa) is important for understanding vascular regulation. To enable measurement of CBVa with diffusion‐weighted (DW) arterial spin labeling (ASL), a theoretical framework was developed using the effects of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM). The pseudo‐diffusion coefficient (D*) in the IVIM model was evaluated at 9.4 T in DW‐ASL of rat brain under isoflurane anesthesia by variations of both post‐labeling delay (w) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). D* and its volume fraction decreased at values of w ≥ 0.3 s, and the normalized apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) increased with MTR, suggesting that D* is closely correlated with CBVa. Thus, the difference between ASL measurements with and without DW gradients is related to CBVa. The CBVa values measured by this approach were compared with values obtained using the modulation of tissue and vessel (MOTIVE) technique with ASL, which varies MT levels without changing spin labeling efficiency. CBVa values from both methods were highly correlated. The measured CBVa values were linearly correlated with cerebral blood flow (CBF) for a PaCO2 range of 25–50 mmHg; ΔCBVa (ml/100 g) = 0.007 (min−1) × ΔCBF (ml/100 g/min). The DW‐ASL approach is simple and easy to implement for human and animal CBVa studies. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
32‐element receiver‐coil array for cardiac imaging
Authors: Hardy Christopher J. , Cline Harvey E. , Giaquinto Randy O. , Niendorf Thoralf , Grant Aaron K. , Sodickson Daniel K. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractA lightweight 32‐element MRI receiver‐coil array was designed and built for cardiac imaging. It comprises an anterior array of 21 copper rings (75 mm diameter) and a posterior array of 11 rings (107 mm diameter) that are arranged in hexagonal lattices so as to decouple nearest neighbors, and curved around the left side of the torso. Imaging experiments on phantoms and human volunteers show that it yields superior performance relative to an eight‐element cardiac array as well as a 32‐element whole‐torso array for both traditional nonaccelerated cardiac imaging and 3D parallel imaging with acceleration factors as high as 16. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Measurement of brain glutamate and glutamine by spectrally‐selective refocusing at 3 tesla
Authors: Choi Changho , Coupland Nicholas J. , Bhardwaj Paramjit P. , Malykhin Nikolai , Gheorghiu Dan , Allen Peter S. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractA new single‐voxel proton NMR spectrally‐selective refocusing method for measuring glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln) in the human brain in vivo at 3T is reported. Triple‐resonance selective 180° RF pulses with a bandwidth of 12 Hz were implemented within point‐resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) for selective detection of Glu or Gln, and simultaneous acquisition of creatine singlets for use as a reference in phase correction. The carriers of the spectrally‐selective 180° pulses and the echo times (TEs) were optimized with both numerical and experimental analyses of the filtering performance, which enabled measurements of the target metabolites with negligible contamination from N‐acetylaspartate and glutathione. The concentrations of Glu and Gln in the prefrontal cortex were estimated to be 9.7 ± 0.5 and 3.0 ± 0.7 mM (mean ± SD, N = 7), with reference to Cr at 8 mM. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Manganese‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for in vivo assessment of damage and functional improvement following spinal cord injury in mice
Authors: Stieltjes Bram , Klussmann Stefan , Bock Michael , Umathum Reiner , Mangalathu Jain , Letellier Elisabeth , Rittgen Werner , Edler Lutz , Krammer Peter H. , Kauczor Hans‐Ulrich , Martin‐Villalba Ana , Essig Marco 
Published: April 2006

AbstractIn past decades, much effort has been invested in developing therapies for spinal injuries. Lack of standardization of clinical read‐out measures, however, makes direct comparison of experimental therapies difficult. Damage and therapeutic effects in vivo are routinely evaluated using rather subjective behavioral tests. Here we show that manganese‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) can be used to examine the extent of damage following spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice in vivo. Injection of MnCl2 solution into the cerebrospinal fluid leads to manganese uptake into the spinal cord. Furthermore, after injury MEMRI‐derived quantitative measures correlate closely with clinical locomotor scores. Improved locomotion due to treating the detrimental effects of SCI with an established therapy (neutralization of CD95Ligand) is reflected in an increase of manganese uptake into the injured spinal cord. Therefore, we demonstrate that MEMRI is a sensitive and objective tool for in vivo visualization and quantification of damage and functional improvement after SCI. Thus, MEMRI can serve as a reproducible surrogate measure of the clinical status of the spinal cord in mice, potentially becoming a standard approach for evaluating experimental therapies. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pre‐radiation chemotherapy with response‐based radiation therapy in children with central nervous system germ cell tumors: A report from the Children's Oncology Group
Authors: Kretschmar C. , Kleinberg L. , Greenberg M. , Burger P. , Holmes Emi , Wharam M. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackgroundThis Phase II study was designed to determine response to chemotherapy and survival after response‐based radiation (RT) in children with CNS germ cell tumors.ProcedureChildren with germinomas and normal markers received cisplatin 100 mg/m2 + etoposide, alternating with vincristine + cyclophosphamide (CPM) 2 g/m2/d, for four cycles. Children with nongerminomatous tumors or with abnormal markers received doubled doses of cisplatin and CPM. For germinoma patients in complete response (CR), RT was decreased from 50.4 to 30.6 Gy. High‐risk patients received neuraxis RT: 50.4 Gy local + 30.6 Gy neuraxis in CR; 54 Gy local + 36 Gy if less than CR.ResultsOf 12 germinoma patients, 4 had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) 6.9–21 mIU/ml. Of 14 nongerminomatous patients, HCG in serum or CSF was >50 mIU/ml in 9, α‐fetoprotein (AFP) abnormal in 9. Four germinoma patients attained CR, six PR, one SD, one not evaluable after resection. Two nongerminomatous patients had CR, three PR, three SD, one PD, four not evaluable after resection; one inadequately treated patient had progressive disease (PD). Both PD patients died; one SD patient died during a seizure. Eleven germinoma patients are PF at median 66 months; one patient in CR refused RT, had PD at 10 months, received RT, and was PF at 56 months. Eleven of 14 nongerminomatous patients were PF at median 58 months.ConclusionResponse (germinoma, 91%; nongerminomatous, 55%) and survival are encouraging after this regimen plus response‐based RT. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;48:285–291. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Core concerns of couples living with early stage breast cancer
Authors: Shands Mary Ellen , Lewis Frances Marcus , Sinsheimer Janet , Cochrane Barbara B. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractStudy objectives: Although clinicians and scientists have a growing awareness of breast cancer as a couple's joint experience, no one has studied the concerns couples choose to address with a professional coach to better manage the impact of the cancer. The purpose of the current study was to describe illness‐related concerns couples worked on together with masters‐educated professional coaches during the first eleven months of the wife's treatment for early stage breast cancer.Setting and participants: Intervention sessions were conducted with twenty‐nine couples in their homes in the Pacific Northwest.Design: Data were obtained from single occasion case intensive interviews with couples.Main results: Inductive coding of the audiorecorded intervention sessions yielded four domains of core concerns: dealing with tension in the relationship; needing to be together as a couple; wondering about the children; and managing the threat of breast cancer.Conclusion: Over half the couples chose to address and do something about the stress, tension and dissatisfaction they were feeling in their relationship that each attributed to the breast cancer. Future family‐focused cancer care needs to include services that assist couples to address these core concerns. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A combinatorial score to distinguish biological and nonbiological protein–protein interfaces
Authors: Liu Shiyong , Li Qingliang , Lai Luhua 
Published: April 2006

AbstractWith the large amount of protein–protein complex structural data available, to understand the key features governing the specificity of protein–protein recognition and to define a suitable scoring function for protein–protein interaction predictions, we have analyzed the protein interfaces from geometric and energetic points of view. Atom‐based potential of mean force (PMFScore), packing density, contact size, and geometric complementarity are calculated for crystal contacts in 74 homodimers and 91 monomers, which include real biological interactions in dimers and nonbiological contacts in monomers and dimers. Simple cutoffs were developed for single and combinatorial parameters to distinguish biological and nonbiological contacts. The results show that PMFScore is a better discriminator between biological and nonbiological interfaces comparable in size. The combination of PMFScore and contact size is the most powerful pairwise discriminator. A combinatorial score (CFPScore) based on the four parameters was developed, which gives the success rate of the homodimer discrimination of 96.6% and error rate of the monomer discrimination of 6.0% and 19.8% according to Valdar's and our definition, respectively. Compared with other statistical learning models, the cutoffs for the four parameters and their combinations are directly based on physical models, simple, and can be easily applied to protein–protein interface analysis and docking studies. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Crystal structures of the complexes of a group IIA phospholipase A2 with two natural anti‐inflammatory agents, anisic acid, and atropine reveal a similar mode of binding
Authors: Singh Nagendra , Jabeen Talat , Pal Aritra , Sharma Sujata , Perbandt Markus , Betzel Christian , Singh Tej P. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractSecretory low molecular weight phospholipase A2s (PLA2s) are believed to be involved in the release of arachidonic acid, a precursor for the biosynthesis of pro‐inflammatory eicosanoids. Therefore, the specific inhibitors of these enzymes may act as potent anti‐inflammatory agents. Similarly, the compounds with known anti‐inflammatory properties should act as specific inhibitors. Two plant compounds, (a) anisic acid (4‐methoxy benzoic acid) and (b) atropine (8‐methyl‐8‐azabicyclo oct‐3‐hydroxy‐2‐phenylpropanoate), have been used in various inflammatory disorders. Both compounds (a) and (b) have been found to inhibit PLA2 activity having binding constants of 4.5 × 10−5 M and 2.1 × 10−8 M, respectively. A group IIA PLA2 was isolated and purified from the venom of Daboia russelli pulchella (DRP) and its complexes were made with anisic acid and atropine. The crystal structures of the two complexes (i) and (ii) of PLA2 with compounds (a) and (b) have been determined at 1.3 and 1.2 Å resolutions, respectively. The high‐quality observed electron densities for the two compounds allowed the accurate determinations of their atomic positions. The structures revealed that these compounds bound to the enzyme at the substrate ‐ binding cleft and their positions were stabilized by networks of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. The most characteristic interactions involving Asp 49 and His 48 were clearly observed in both complexes, although the residues that formed hydrophobic interactions with these compounds were not identical because their positions did not exactly superimpose in the large substrate‐binding hydrophobic channel. Owing to a relatively small size, the structure of anisic acid did not alter upon binding to PLA2, while that of atropine changed significantly when compared with its native crystal structure. The conformation of the protein also did not show notable changes upon the bindings of these ligands. The mode of binding of anisic acid to the present group II PLA2 is almost identical to its binding with bovine pancreatic PLA2 of group I. On the other hand, the binding of atropine to PLA2 is similar to that of another plant alkaloid aristolochic acid. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A simple measure of native‐state topology and chain connectivity predicts the folding rates of two‐state proteins with and without crosslinks
Authors: Dixit Purushottam D. , Weikl Thomas R. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe folding rates of two‐state proteins have been found to correlate with simple measures of native‐state topology. The most prominent among these measures is the relative contact order (CO), which is the average CO, or localness, of all contacts in the native protein structure, divided by the chain length. Here, we test whether such measures can be generalized to capture the effect of chain crosslinks on the folding rate. Crosslinks change the chain connectivity and therefore also the localness of some of the native contacts. These changes in localness can be taken into account by the graph‐theoretical concept of effective contact order (ECO). The relative ECO, however, the natural extension of the relative CO for proteins with crosslinks, overestimates the changes in the folding rates caused by crosslinks. We suggest here a novel measure of native‐state topology, the relative logCO, and its natural extension, the relative logECO. The relative logCO is the average value for the logarithm of the CO of all contacts, divided by the logarithm of the chain length. The relative log(E)CO reproduces the folding rates of a set of 26 two‐state proteins without crosslinks with essentially the same high correlation coefficient as the relative CO. In addition, it also captures the folding rates of eight two‐state proteins with crosslinks. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Microscopy reveals disease control through novel effects on fungal development: a case study with an early‐generation benzophenone fungicide
Authors: Schmitt Mark R , Carzaniga Raffaella , Cotter H Van T , O'Connell Richard , Hollomon Derek 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe benzophenones are a new class of agricultural fungicides that demonstrate protectant, curative and eradicative/antisporulant activity against powdery mildews. The chemistry is represented in the marketplace by the fungicide metrafenone, recently introduced by BASF and discussed in the following paper. The benzophenones show no evidence of acting by previously identified biochemical mechanisms, nor do they show cross‐resistance with existing fungicides. The value of microscopy in elucidating fungicide mode of action is demonstrated through identification of the effects of an early benzophenone, eBZO, on mildew development. eBZO caused profound alterations in the morphology of powdery mildews of both monocotyledons and dicotyledons, affecting multiple stages of fungal development, including spore germination, appressorial formation, penetration, surface hyphal morphology and sporogenesis. Identification of analogous effects of eBZO on sporulation in the model organismAspergillus nidulans(Eidam) Winter provides a unique opportunity to elucidate important morphogenetic regulatory sites in the economically important obligate pathogens, the powdery mildews. Benzophenones provide a further example of the benefits of whole‐organism testing in the search for novel fungicide modes of action. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry