bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Renal excretion of galactose and galactitol in patients with classical galactosaemia, obligate heterozygous parents and healthy subjects
Authors: Schadewaldt P. , Killius S. , Kamalanathan L. , Hammen H.‐W. , Straßburger K. , Wendel U. 
Published: September 2003

AbstractThe age dependence of galactose and galactitol excretion was assessed in overnight‐fasted galactose‐1‐phosphate uridyltransferase‐deficient patients under dietary treatment (ages 4–34 years; n=51), obligate heterozygous parents (ages 25–71 years; n=49) and healthy subjects (ages 3–58 years; n=215). Urine concentrations were analysed by stable‐isotope dilution gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. There was considerable interindividual variability. The intraindividual variation, however, was not age‐dependent and was rather low. Excretion estimates were calculated from the creatinine‐related concentrations using weight‐, age‐ and sex‐related creatinine excretion rates. Experimental evidence is presented underscoring the problems inherent in random sampling and substantiating the primary endogenous origin of galactose and galactitol in postabsorptive urine samples. Age‐dependent excretion estimates were best fitted to a simple growth‐related model assuming an exponential decrease with age until adulthood. According to the model, mean postabsorptive galactose and galactitol excretion in healthy subjects was similar and decreased exponentially from about 1.2 µmol/kg body weight per day in infants to about 0.2 µmol/kg body weight per day in adults. Excretion in heterozygotes was normal. In galactosaemic patients, galactose excretion was in the normal range. Galactitol excretion, however, was enhanced over 50‐fold and decreased from a mean estimate of about 64 µmol/kg body weight per day in infants to about 23 µmol/kg body weight per day in adults. The results are discussed with respect to the significance of galactose and galactitol excretion for whole‐body galactose removal and with respect to the applicability of urinary galactitol analysis for metabolic monitoring in galactosaemia.
Digestive strategies of small hindgut fermenters
Authors: SAKAGUCHI Ei 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTSmall mammalian herbivores have a limitation in their supply system of nutrients to their energy and protein demands because they need much more energy and protein per unit body mass than larger herbivorous animals. Therefore, small herbivores need to have characteristic strategies in their digestive systems to overcome the limitation of their small body mass compared with larger animals. Although small herbivorous mammals commonly have an enlarged cecum, the pattern of flow and mixing of digesta in the large intestine varies among them. Distinct separation of the larger fiber particles from smaller and liquid contents which are retained in the cecum can be recognized in some species. Coprophagy, practiced by many small herbivores, has nutritional significance providing a source of vitamins, amino acids, and other nutrients which are excreted with feces. Among coprophagous mammals, several species produce two types of feces: soft feces, which are eaten; and hard, which are not eaten. Soft feces contain more water than hard feces and dry matter includes more protein and less fiber. Coprophagic behavior must be supported by the colonic separation mechanism, which operates retrograde transport of fluid and fine particle digesta or bacteria trapped in the mucus, resulting in high density bacteria in the cecum contents, which is successively consumed as cecotroph. These mechanisms must be necessary for small herbivores to survive on the feed in their habitat.
Identification of ovalbumin phenotypes of the Asian indigenous chicken populations using polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism
Authors: KINOSHITA Keiji , SHIMOGIRI Takeshi , OKAMOTO Shin , KAWABE Kotaro , ISHIZUKA Joji , IBRAHIM Hisham R. , MAEDA Yoshizane 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTThree electrophoretic variations (AA, BB and AB) of ovalbumin controlled by codominant alleles OvA and OvB have been observed in various chicken populations. We compared nucleotide sequences of the open reading frame between two alleles of ovalbumin gene. The difference between the two alleles was found as a non‐synonymous substitution of asparagine to aspartic acid as a result of AAT to GAT point mutation at position 8032–8034 in exon 8. We developed polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) protocol in combination with Mbo I restriction endnuclease mapping for the detection of this substitution. By the PCR‐RFLP the allelic frequency of the OvB was estimated to be within the range of 0.000–0.150 in 11 Asian indigenous chicken populations and 0.000 in four improved breeds used in the present study. Gene frequency, estimated by PCR‐RFLP in the present study, paralleled that obtained by protein polymorphisms of egg white. Thus, this study provides, for the first time, information of the occurrence of ovalbumin allele OvA and OvB in Asian indigenous chicken populations.
In vitro development of bovine nuclear transfer embryos reconstructed with mammary gland epithelial cells at different passages
Authors: KISHI Masao , ITAGAKI Yasuharu , SUDO Tomoko , TAKAKURA Ryo 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTIn the present study, the effect of passage of nuclear donor cells on the in vitro development of nuclear transfer (NT) embryos was investigated using colostrum‐derived mammary gland epithelial (MGE) cells at different passages (3–30 passages) to find reliable passages for the efficiency of cloning. Development of NT embryos to the blastocyst stage was affected by the number of passages of MGE cells (P < 0.05). Nuclear transfer embryos reconstructed with MGE cells at 3–7 passages showed a significantly higher blastocyst development (31.3–48.5%) than those with the cells at 10–30 passages (2.5–12.5%, P < 0.05). No difference in the proportion of the MGE cells with normal diploid was observed among passage of 3, 15 and 30 (P > 0.05). The use of MGE cells at early passages for nuclear donor cells may be advantageous for the production of NT embryos.
The solubilization of myofibrillar proteins of vertebrate skeletal muscle in water
Authors: ITO Yukiko , TATSUMI Ryuichi , WAKAMATSU Jun‐Ichi , NISHIMURA Takanori , HATTORI Akihito 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTMyofibrillar proteins of vertebrate skeletal muscles are insoluble in solutions of ionic strength that approximate physiological conditions. We established a method to solubilize more than 80% of chicken breast muscle myofibrillar proteins in water for the use of meat as a source of food protein. SDS‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic patterns of water‐soluble myofibrillar proteins demonstrated that all identified myofibrillar proteins except connectin/titin were soluble in water. A part of α‐actinin was released from myofibrils by repeated washing with 2.5 mmol/L NaCl and 5 mmol/L L‐histidine solution, and subsequent destruction of connectin/titin in washed myofibrils by ultrasonication resulted in solubilization of a large fraction of chicken breast muscle myofibrillar proteins in water. Myofibrillar proteins of chicken leg, pork loin, beef shoulder loin, and lamb were also solubilized in water using this procedure.
Isolation and characterization of cytotoxic small peptides, α‐casecidins, from bovine αs1‐casein digested with bovine trypsin
Authors: OTANI Hajime , SUZUKI Hiroyuki 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTCytotoxic peptides were isolated from a trypsin digest of bovine αs1‐casein by a combination of ion‐exchange column chromatography and reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography as an indicator of cytotoxicity toward mouse spleen cells. Amino acids of the isolated peptides were sequenced as arginyl‐proly‐lysine, leucyl‐lysyl‐lysine and tyrosyl‐lysine, being compatible with sequences 1–3, 101–103 and 104–105 of bovine αs1‐casein, respectively. The isolated peptides displayed cytotoxicity toward healthy mouse T and B cells and human leukemic T and B cell lines in a commercially available serum‐free medium for lymphocytes, Celgrosser‐P, and were named α‐casecidins. Similar cytotoxicity was confirmed in chemically synthesized peptides corresponding to sequences 1–3, 101–103 and 100–105 of bovine αs1‐casein. The cytotoxicity induced by α‐casecidins was concluded to be because of necrosis, and was diminished in the presence of bovine serum albumin.
Complete nucleotide sequence of mitochondrial DNA in White Leghorn and White Plymouth Rock chickens
Authors: NISHIBORI Masahide , HANAZONO Makoto , YAMAMOTO Yoshio , TSUDZUKI Masaoki , YASUE Hiroshi 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACTAmong the chicken breeds, White Leghorn (WL) and White Plymouth Rock (WR) are major breeds and have different history in their establishments. Whole mitochondrial DNA of the breeds were sequenced in order to elucidate the genetic relationship between the breeds. The lengths of the two WL and two WR mitochondrial DNA were found to be 16 788 and 16 785 base pairs, respectively. When the DNA sequences were compared, the similarity was found to be 99.96% (six nucleotide differences). In addition, the present study conformed the existence of an extra nucleotide ‘C’ in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (ND3) of the chicken mitochondrial DNA, which has been consistently observed in Galliformes.
Top–down control of benthic heterotrophic nanoflagellates by oligochaetes and microcrustaceans in a littoral freshwater habitat
Authors: Wieltschnig Claudia , Kirschner Alexander K. T. , Fischer Ulrike R. , Velimirov Branko 
Published: September 2003

Summary1. We investigated trophic interactions between benthic heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) and oligochaetes and microcrustaceans (cladocerans and copepods) transferred from a silty, littoral freshwater habitat to laboratory microcosms. With a newly adapted experimental design we were able to compute (i) predation rates on benthic HNF by the tested metazoan organisms and (ii) growth rates of the natural benthic HNF population when losses because of this predation were excluded.2. The experiments covered a temperature range of 4–27 °C and a fivefold variation of predator densities (September 2000–February 2002). For 60% of these experiments, significant predation of oligochaetes and microcrustaceans on benthic HNF was revealed. Predation rates on HNF ranged from 0 to 0.256 day−1. Growth rates of the benthic HNF assemblage varied from −0.098 to 0.353 day−1; they were used to estimate the significance of the measured losses in comparison with possible other loss factors.3. The data suggested that during the major part of the year a high percentage of the HNF production was consumed in the surficial sediment of the investigated system, resulting in a relatively constant and low HNF standing stock and an uncoupling of benthic bacteria and their protistan grazers. Top–down control by microcrustaceans and oligochaetes was identified as one significant, frequently prevailing regulatory factor, while other parameters responsible for the control of benthic HNF densities remain to be examined.
The Role of Cryptopatch‐Derived Intraepithelial Lymphocytes in the Development of Chronic Ileocecitis
Authors: Makita S. , Kanai T. , Matsumoto S. , Iiyama R. , Uraushihara K. , Totsuka T. , Yamazaki M. , Nakamura T. , Ishikawa H. , Watanabe M. 
Published: September 2003

AbstractLympho‐haemopoietic progenitors residing in murine gut cryptopatches (CPs) have been shown to generate intestinal extrathymic intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs). However, the role of CPs in the development of intestinal inflammation remains unclear. To investigate the role of CPs in the development of intestinal inflammation, we examined SAMP1/Yit mice, which spontaneously develop a chronic intestinal inflammation localized to the terminal ileum and cecum. Here, we showed the sharp correlation between the disease onset and the decreased number of CPs, resulting in decreased number of both thymus‐independent IELs including T‐cell receptor γδ+ (TCRγδ+) and CD8αα+TCRαβ+ cells but not thymus‐dependent CD8αβ+TCRαβ+ and CD4+TCRαβ+ cells in SAMP1/Yit mice. These data provide the first suggestion that thymus‐independent IELs derived from CP might play protective role against the onset and the development of intestinal inflammation.
Phylogeny of Antigen‐Processing Enzymes: Cathepsins of a Cephalochordate, an Agnathan and a Bony Fish
Authors: Uinuk‐ool T. S. , Takezaki N. , Kuroda N. , Figueroa F. , Sato A. , Samonte I. E. , Mayer W. E. , Klein J. 
Published: September 2003

AbstractCathepsins are enzymes that have been cleaving peptide bonds of lysosomal proteins probably since lysosomes appeared in early eucaryotes. When the adaptive system emerged in gnathostomes, cathepsins were recruited to produce peptides for loading onto the major histocompatibility complex class II molecules and for degrading the class II‐associated invariant chain just before the loading. The circumstances under which this recruitment took place are unclear because the knowledge about vertebrate cathepsins is limited largely to mammals. To shed light on the recruitment, 10 amphioxus, one lamprey and one cichlid fish cathepsin cDNA clone were characterized and analysed phylogenetically. Disregarding cathepsin O, whose phylogenetic position is uncertain, the analysis confirms the existence of two old lines of descent, the B and the L lineages of cathepsins, which diverged from each other early in the evolution of eucaryotes. The B lineage encompasses cathepsins B, C and Z (X). The L lineage splits off sublineages encompassing cathepsins F and W before the plant–animal separation and cathepsin H early in the evolution of the metazoa. The remaining cathepsins belonging to the L lineage diverged from one another during the evolution of vertebrates: S, K and L before the emergence of bony fishes, and the group of rodent placentally expressed cathepsins [J (P), M, Q, R, 3, 6, 7 and 8] as well as the testis/ova‐expressed cathepsins (testins) probably after the divergence of rodents from primates. The part possibly played by the adaptive immune system in some of these divergences is discussed.
Use of risperidone in a paediatric population: An observational study
Authors: King B , Zwi K , Nunn K , Longworth J , Dossetor D 
Published: September 2003

Objective:  To evaluate the impact of risperidone on functional impairment in a paediatric sample and to document the range of adverse drug reactions.Methods:  Risperidone treatment in children and adolescents (n = 51) with severe behavioural disturbances was assessed retrospectively to determine clinical response and adverse events. The change in patient functional performance during treatment was assessed using the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children Measure of Function (MOF) score. Changes in target behaviours (such as severe aggression) were also assessed.Results:  The average duration of follow up was 9 months. Clinical improvement was demonstrated in 76% of the sample. There was a statistically significant improvement in the mean MOF with risperidone therapy (10.61 with 99% confidence interval 6.6−14.6). Risperidone appeared to be particularly useful in patients with autistic spectrum disorders. Twenty‐five of the 51 patients (49%) experienced side‐effects including sedation (27%), weight gain (20%), anticholinergic (10%) and extrapyramidal (8%) side‐effects.Conclusions:  This study suggests that risperidone is an effective agent in severely behaviourally disturbed paediatric patients. However, risperidone use is limited by the high frequency of side‐effects. Randomized controlled trial data are required to determine the safety and efficacy of risperidone.
Missed opportunities for a diagnosis of acute otitis media in Aboriginal children
Authors: Gibney KB , Morris PS , Carapetis JR , Skull SA , Leach AJ 
Published: September 2003

Objective:  Severe otitis media and its sequelae are common in rural and remote Aboriginal children. Identification of acute otitis media (AOM) is likely to reduce the number of children who go on to develop chronic suppurative otitis media and associated complications. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnoses made by researchers with that documented in the medical records of children admitted to the paediatric isolation ward of the Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory.Methods:  Children aged <8 years admitted to Royal Darwin Hospital were eligible for assessment by pneumatic otoscopy, video‐otoscopy and tympanometry. A diagnosis was made for each child according to the state of their worst ear. Comparisons were made between the researcher diagnoses of ear disease and those documented in the hospital notes by medical staff.Results:  Thirty‐one children were enrolled during 32 admissions. Most were aged <2 years, Aboriginal, and resided in remote communities. Sixty‐one video‐otoscopic assessments were attempted and sufficiently good images to allow diagnosis were obtained in 105 of 122 ears. Acute otitis media was diagnosed by the research team in 20 of 32 child admissions. Of 29 children who had ear examinations documented by hospital staff, only seven had a diagnosis of AOM recorded. Overall, the research team were almost three times more likely to make this diagnosis (relative risk 2.9, 95% confidence interval 1.6, 5.2). This difference was unlikely to have occurred by chance (P = 0.0002, McNemar's Chi‐squared test).Conclusions:  In this small study, young Aboriginal children with clear bulging of their tympanic membrane were not diagnosed with AOM by medical staff. Further training in diagnosis, including cleaning of the ear canal, may lead to more accurate assessment and appropriate recommendations for ongoing management.
Geographic variation in phenotypic traits in Phratora spp. and the effects of conditioning on feeding preference
Authors: Peacock L. , Carter P. , Powers S. , Karp A. 
Published: September 2003

AbstractThe leaf beetle genus Phratora (L.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) includes important pests of cultivated willows and poplars. The feeding preference of P. vulgatissima and P. vitellinae collected from different geographical locations was studied under laboratory conditions. There were geographic differences in the amount consumed of different willow host genotypes by each beetle species. Correlation analysis showed that, regardless of these individual differences between willow genotypes and locations, the ranking of preferred host genotypes was significantly related between locations. There were differences in the preference of host genotypes by P. vulgatissima adults and larvae after being confined to a specific willow genotype for a month, suggesting the possibility of a conditioning effect on food preference. This study also permitted the assessment of possible geographic differentiation in morphological traits. Both beetle species generally showed an increase in body size, width, and percentage fat of dry body weight with a more northerly location. These results are discussed in relation to using varietal mixtures as a pest management strategy.
Price Commitment versus Flexibility: the Role of Exchange Rate Uncertainty and its Implications for Exchange Rate Passthrough
Authors: Chang Byoung‐Ky , Lapan Harvey E. 
Published: September 2003

AbstractThe paper investigates the incentives to commit price or retain price flexibility in a model in which exporting firms face different degrees of exchange rate uncertainty. The result shows that introducing exchange rate uncertainty can lead to the endogenous emergence of a unique leader–follower equilibrium; which firm emerges as price leader depends on the substitutability of products, the magnitude of exchange rate uncertainty, and the cost structure. This study may provide one explanation as to why some exporters set price before the realization of the nominal exchange rates (“sticky price”). The results imply exchange rate variability affects exchange rate passthrough.
A Latent Gaussian Markov Random-Field Model for Spatiotemporal Rainfall Disaggregation
Authors: Allcroft David J. , Glasbey Chris A. 
Published: September 2003

Summary
Rainfall data are often collected at coarser spatial scales than required for input into hydrology and agricultural models. We therefore describe a spatiotemporal model which allows multiple imputation of rainfall at fine spatial resolutions, with a realistic dependence structure in both space and time and with the total rainfall at the coarse scale consistent with that observed. The method involves the transformation of the fine scale rainfall to a thresholded Gaussian process which we model as a Gaussian Markov random field. Gibbs sampling is then used to generate realizations of rainfall efficiently at the fine scale. Results compare favourably with previous, less elegant methods.
Experimental Determination and System Level Analysis of Essential Genes in
Escherichia coli
MG1655
Authors: Gerdes S. Y. , Scholle M. D. , Campbell J. W. , Balázsi G. , Ravasz E. , Daugherty M. D. , Somera A. L. , Kyrpides N. C. , Anderson I. , Gelfand M. S. , Bhattacharya A. , Kapatral V. , D'Souza M. , Baev M. V. , Grechkin Y. , Mseeh F. , Fonstein M. Y. , Overbeek R. , Barabási A.-L. , Oltvai Z. N. , Osterman A. L. 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACT

Defining the gene products that play an essential role in an organism's functional repertoire is vital to understanding the system level organization of living cells. We used a genetic footprinting technique for a genome-wide assessment of genes required for robust aerobic growth of
Escherichia coli
in rich media. We identified 620 genes as essential and 3,126 genes as dispensable for growth under these conditions. Functional context analysis of these data allows individual functional assignments to be refined. Evolutionary context analysis demonstrates a significant tendency of essential
E. coli
genes to be preserved throughout the bacterial kingdom. Projection of these data over metabolic subsystems reveals topologic modules with essential and evolutionarily preserved enzymes with reduced capacity for error tolerance.
VGJφ, a Novel Filamentous Phage of
Vibrio cholerae
, Integrates into the Same Chromosomal Site as CTXφ
Authors: Campos Javier , Martínez Eriel , Suzarte Edith , Rodríguez Boris L. , Marrero Karen , Silva Yussuan , Ledón Talena , del Sol Ricardo , Fando Rafael 
Published: September 2003

ABSTRACT

We describe a novel filamentous phage, designated VGJφ, isolated from strain SG25-1 of
Vibrio cholerae
O139, which infects all O1 (classical and El Tor) and O139 strains tested. The sequence of the 7,542 nucleotides of the phage genome reveals that VGJφ has a distinctive region of 775 nucleotides and a conserved region with an overall genomic organization similar to that of previously characterized filamentous phages, such as CTXφ of
V. cholerae
and Ff phages of
Escherichia coli
. The conserved region carries 10 open reading frames (ORFs) coding for products homologous to previously reported peptides of other filamentous phages, and the distinctive region carries one ORF whose product is not homologous to any known peptide. VGJφ, like other filamentous phages, uses a type IV pilus to infect
V. cholerae
; in this case, the pilus is the mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin. VGJφ-infected
V. cholerae
overexpresses the product of one ORF of the phage (ORF112), which is similar to single-stranded DNA binding proteins of other filamentous phages. Once inside a cell, VGJφ is able to integrate its genome into the same chromosomal
attB
site as CTXφ, entering into a lysogenic state. Additionally, we found an
attP
structure in VGJφ, which is also conserved in several lysogenic filamentous phages from different bacterial hosts. Finally, since different filamentous phages seem to integrate into the bacterial
dif
locus by a general mechanism, we propose a model in which repeated integration events with different phages might have contributed to the evolution of the CTX chromosomal region in
V. cholerae
El Tor.