julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Effects of Cerivastatin on Human Arterial Smooth Muscle Cell Growth and Extracellular Matrix Expression at Varying Glucose and Low-density Lipoprotein Levels
2003-03-01

Statins exert pleiotropic effects on several other cellular functions besides lipid-lowering. Previously, it was found that cerivastatin is a very potent inhibitor of human arterial smooth muscle cell (haSMC) growth. However, because increased extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis also accounts mainly for intimal plaque formation, the effects of cerivastatin on ECM expression was examined in this study. Furthermore, the influence of varying glucose and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels on cerivastatin-treated haSMCs was analyzed to mimic the conditions in patients with diabetes or hypercholesterolemia. The haSMCs were treated with 0.001-5.0 microM cerivastatin in the presence of 5.5-18.9 m glucose and 10-1000 microg/ml LDL. After 3 days, the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of eight ECM proteins was analyzed and, after 7 days, mitotic and mitochondrial activities and thrombospondin (TSP)-1 protein expression were analyzed. TSP-1 and TSP-2 mRNA expression was inhibited highly significantly at cerivastatin doses >or=0.01 microM with maximums of 72% and 35%, respectively, at high glucose levels. The mRNA signals of the third glycoprotein fibronectin were not influenced. Furthermore, collagen-1 mRNA was inhibited highly significantly up to 71% and biglycan mRNA was similarly inhibited up to 45%. The mRNA expression of the matrix-stimulating transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 was not altered significantly, whereas mRNA expression of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2 was stimulated clearly up to 150%. Mevalonate, but not LDL replacement, reversed the effects. Immunofluorescence staining showed an unaltered TSP-1 pattern with cerivastatin doses up to 0.1 microM whereas higher doses impaired TSP-1 excretion. The effects of cerivastatin on haSMC growth and mRNA expression of the eight ECM components were not diminished by the increase in LDL and glucose levels. Since accelerated SMC growth and ECM formation contribute mainly to intimal thickening, cerivastatin may be protective against the development of atherosclerotic and restenotic lesions by its direct cellular effects. Increased LDL and glucose levels, as in diabetes, do not mitigate the beneficial effects of cerivastatin on cell growth and ECM formation in vitro.
Detection of Small Bolus Volumes Using Multiple Intraluminal Impedance in Preterm Infants
2003-03-01

ABSTRACT Background Multiple intraluminal impedance (MII) is a new technique that allows detection of reflux and swallows via changes in impedance caused by a liquid bolus inside the esophagus. The method is independent of pH. The authors studied the ability of this technique to detect the small bolus volumes potentially occurring in young infants. Methods Ten preterm infants (median gestational age at birth, 33 weeks; range, 25–36 weeks; age at study, 9 days; range, 2–39 days) underwent 10 instillations each of 0.1 mL to 0.5 mL saline while MII was recorded via a 2.4‐mm nasogastric catheter. MII signals were analyzed for swallows, defined as a decrease in impedance starting within 1 minute. From the liquid instillation in the most proximal channel and extending downward, impedance changes during these induced swallows were compared with those occurring during spontaneous swallows. Results All 100 liquid instillations resulted in a typical impedance pattern, occurring after a median interval of 4.4 seconds (range, 1.8–8.9 seconds). The decrease in impedance was more pronounced than after spontaneous swallows (30% vs. 24%, P &lt; 0.03) and extended downward more rapidly (12.3 cm/s vs. 5.8 cm/s, P &lt; 0.01). Conclusion Bolus transport of small liquid volumes can be detected via MII.
Der Erste Weltkrieg als Bewährungsprobe. Bolschewistische Lernprozesse aus dem «imperialistischen» Krieg
2003-03-01

The Crucible of the First World War. What the Bolsheviks learned from the «imperialist» war Even before 1914, deep ethnic and social tensions in Russia resulted in violence. Labor militancy, revolutionary terrorism and tsarist anti-revolutionary repression, and, not least, anti-semitic pogroms in the countryside were typical forms of violence. When civil war broke out after the Bolsheviks seized power, violence on the left and the right reached unprecedented levels. Pre-war conflicts were recast in ideological terms, and the new regime removed all limits on violence in theory and practice. The Bolsheviks enforced their claim to power through comprehensive forms of repression, ranging from military requisition and recruitment under the threat and use of force to mass executions. Their enemies responded in kind. In addition, the regime propagated a world-view marked by a sharp dichotomy between friend and foe, and it erased all references to its own acts of violence from the memory of the civil war. All this paved the way for Stalin's murderous policies.
Blue liposomes for identification of the sentinel lymph nodes in pigs.
2003-03-01

Effective preoperative staining of regional lymph nodes improves their intraoperative identification and thus the selectivity of "sentinel node" lymphadenectomy. Unfortunately, aqueous Patent Blue V (PBV) often fails to provide the requisite intensity and duration of contrast (1,2). A comparative study of staining characteristics of PBV in aqueous solution with those of liposomally encapsulated PBV was carried out on 7 female pigs with an average weight of 40 kg. The liposomes, consisting of lecithin and cholesterol in a molar ratio of 3:1, were produced by an extrusion technique using membranes with thicknesses of 5 microm, 1.2 microm, 0.4 microm and 0.2 microm. In each instance, a 0.5-ml depot containing 25 +/- 0.4 mg of PBV/ml was injected into each of the four upper and lower mammary glands in aqueous solution on the left side and in a liposomal preparation on the right side. Stained lymph nodes of the groin, pelvis and neck were identified after 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours, then excised and photographed. Their PBV concentrations were measured by spectrophotometry. In all cases, the liposome preparations provided greater intensity and a longer duration than the aqueous solution. Liposomal PBV compared with aqueous PBV can therefore be recommended for better preoperative lymph node staining and identification of "sentinel" lymph nodes.
Cooling Has No Benefit on Sequential Cell Death after Thermal Injury In Vitro
2003-03-01

Cooling Has No Benefit on Sequential Cell Death after Thermal Injury In Vitro Get access O. H. Rennekampff, MD, O. H. Rennekampff, MD 1BG Trauma Center, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar M. Sauter, M. Sauter 1BG Trauma Center, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. E. Schaller, MD, H. E. Schaller, MD 1BG Trauma Center, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. P. Rodemann, PhD H. P. Rodemann, PhD 1BG Trauma Center, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, Volume 24, Issue suppl_2, March-April 2003, Page S77, https://doi.org/10.1097/00004630-200303002-00069 Published: 01 March 2003
Statins and direct vascular actions.
2003-03-01

Statins can exert many pleiotropic effects beyond their cholesterol-lowering action. These effects mainly influence the vascular wall and may modulate beneficially endothelial function, atherogenesis and atherosclerotic plaque stability. Recent data suggest a possible positive effect of statins on prevention of osteoporosis and cancerogenesis. However, the magnitude of contribution of these pleiotropic statin effects to the reduction of morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases remains to be determined.
Compatibility Standards and Strategic Trade Policy
2003-03-01

We analyse the compatibility decisions of two national firms producing horizontally differentiated variants of a good that exhibits network effects for the world market. One of the firms is able to endogenously establish an installed base in its domestic market. The firm's effort in that respect is reinforced by a production subsidy that covers the firm's domestic market. With the help of a three-country model we ask under which circumstances this local subsidy may be and actually is used as a strategic trade-policy device. We show that the installed-base effect plays a role only when the firms opt for incompatibility. In addition, we obtain the result that only for intermediate values of the network-effect parameter incompatibility is chosen. In all other cases, compatibility emerges and so the local subsidy can be shown to increase world welfare.
The Protection of the Public Interest in the Context of Competitive Tendering
2003-03-01

Public contracts increasingly have to be awarded through a procedure of public competitive tendering. State and other public bodies awarding public service contracts use this mechanism to require bidders to meet specific public interests, for example, certain environment standards, the promotion of women, or the employment of long‐term unemployed persons. Such requirements impose upon bidders criteria not explicitly related to the contract, the implementation of which increases the project's cost and thus precludes the selection of the most economic offer, contrary to what is required by European recommendations. However the European Court of Justice has accepted such practice by Member States, considering it their right to organize themselves, within certain conditions, which are reviewed in this paper.
Compatibility Decisions, Endogenous Installed Home Bases and the Third-Market Competition
2003-03-01

This Paper analyses the compatibility decisions of two regional monopolistic suppliers of a network-effect good who first build up installed bases in their respective home region and then compete in a third market. We show that with weak network effects, installed home bases always are higher under compatibility and suppliers always opt for compatibility. With strong network effects, home markets are covered, and given a sufficiently high home-market size advantage both the favoured supplier and a regional standardization body maintain incompatibility in order (to enable the supplier) to monopolize the third market via limit pricing. As incompatibility always results in a welfare loss, this is a strong case for a global standardization body.
Mara Frascarelli, The syntax–phonology interface in focus and topic constructions in Italian (Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 50). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. Pp. ix+224.
2003-03-01

Mara Frascarelli, The syntax–phonology interface in focus and topic constructions in Italian (Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 50). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. Pp. ix+224. - Volume 39 Issue 1
Motor learning elicited by voluntary drive
2003-03-03

Motor training consisting of voluntary movements leads to performance improvements and results in characteristic reorganizational changes in the motor cortex. It has been proposed that repetition of passively elicited movements could also lead to improvements in motor performance. In this study, we compared behavioural gains, changes in functional MRI (fMRI) activation in the contralateral primary motor cortex (cM1) and in motor cortex excitability measured with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) after a 30 min training period of either voluntarily (active) or passively (passive) induced wrist movements, when alertness and kinematic aspects of training were controlled. During active training, subjects were instructed to perform voluntary wrist flexion-extension movements of a specified duration (target window 174-186 ms) in an articulated splint. Passive training consisted of wrist flexion- extension movements elicited by a torque motor, of the same amplitude and duration range as in the active task. fMRI activation and TMS parameters of motor cortex excitability were measured before and after each training type. Motor performance, measured as the number of movements that hit the target window duration, was significantly better after active than after passive training. Both active and passive movements performed during fMRI measurements activated cM1. Active training led to more prominent increases in (i) fMRI activation of cM1; (ii) recruitment curves (TMS); and (iii) intracortical facilitation (TMS) than passive training. Therefore, a short period of active motor training is more effective than passive motor training in eliciting performance improvements and cortical reorganization. This result is consistent with the concept of a pivotal role for voluntary drive in motor learning and neurorehabilitation.
The cortical substrate of visual extinction.
2003-03-03

Neuroimaging studies investigated the attentional systems of the human brain revealing two networks, one for voluntary allocation of attention and another for stimulus-driven attentional processes. Whereas lesions of the latter system were supposed to lead to spatial neglect, we show that such lesions rather are typical for the occurrence of visual extinction. Extinction describes the inability of brain-damaged patients to detect a contralesional target in the presence of a competing ipsilesional stimulus. In a sample of consecutively admitted patients with right hemisphere stroke, we found dissociable cortical substrates for spatial neglect and visual extinction. There was a surprising congruency between the typical lesion site in patients with extinction and the activation clusters found in previous neuroimaging studies of healthy subjects. The results show that the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), considered to be a crucial part of the stimulus-driven attentional network, is the neural substrate of visual extinction.
CloQ, a prenyltransferase involved in clorobiocin biosynthesis
2003-03-04

Ring A (3-dimethylallyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid) is a structural moiety of the aminocoumarin antibiotics novobiocin and clorobiocin. In the present study, the prenyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of this moiety was identified from the clorobiocin producer ( Streptomyces roseochromogenes ), overexpressed, and purified. It is a soluble, monomeric 35-kDa protein, encoded by the structural gene cloQ . 4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate and dimethylallyl diphosphate were identified as the substrates of this enzyme, with K m values determined as 25 and 35 μM, respectively. A gene inactivation experiment confirmed that cloQ is essential for ring A biosynthesis. Database searches did not reveal any similarity of CloQ to known prenyltransferases, and the enzyme did not contain the typical prenyl diphosphate binding site (N/D)DXXD. In contrast to most of the known prenyltransferases, the enzymatic activity was not dependent on the presence of magnesium, and in contrast to the membrane-bound polyprenyltransferases involved in ubiquinone biosynthesis, CloQ did not accept 4-hydroxybenzoic acid as substrate. CloQ and the similar NovQ from the novobiocin producer seem to belong to a new class of prenyltransferases.
Interactions between the Outer Membrane Ferric Citrate Transporter FecA and TonB: Studies of the FecA TonB Box
2003-03-04

ABSTRACT Both induction of transcription of the ferric citrate transport genes and transport of ferric citrate by the Escherichia coli outer membrane receptor FecA require energy derived from the proton motive force (PMF) of the inner membrane. The energy is transduced to FecA by the inner membrane complex, TonB, ExbB, and ExbD. Region 160 of TonB and the conserved TonB box of other TonB-dependent receptors are implicated as sites of interaction. In the present study, the postulated TonB box (D 80 A 81 L 82 T 83 V 84 ) of FecA was deleted in frame, with a subsequent loss of both FecA functions. DALTV of FecA could be functionally replaced with the core TonB boxes of FhuA (DTITV) and FepA (DTIVV). Each residue of the TonB box of FecA was sequentially replaced with cysteine residues, and only the D80C replacement showed a loss (reduction) of both FecA functions. A physical interaction between TonB and FecA was demonstrated using both in vivo site-specific disulfide bond cross-linking and nonspecific formaldehyde (FA) cross-linking. Pairwise combinations of FecA (DALTV)/Cys substitutions were cross-linked via disulfide bond formation with TonBQ160C, TonBQ162C, and TonBY163C. Unexpectedly, this cross-linking was not enhanced by substrate (ferric citrate). In contrast, the TonB-FecA interaction was enhanced by ferric citrate in the FA-cross-linking assay. Energy derived from the PMF was not required for the TonB-FecA interaction in either the disulfide- or FA-cross-linking assay. TonB/CysExbB/ExbD(D25N) was still able to cross-link with the FecA (DALTV)/Cys derivatives in a tonB tolQ background, even though ExbD25N renders the TonB/ExbBD complex nonfunctional (V. Braun, S. Gaisser, C. Herrmann, K. Kampfenkel, H. Killmann, and I. Traub, J. Bacteriol. 178: 2836-2845, 1996). TonB cross-linked to FecA via FA was not inhibited by either carbonylcyanide- m -chlorophenylhydrazone or 1 mM 2,4-dinitrophenol, which dissipate the electrochemical potential of the cytoplasmic membrane and disrupt both FecA functions. The studies shown here demonstrate the significance of the TonB box for FecA functions and are consistent with the view that it is the structure and not the sequence of the TonB box that is important for activity. Demonstrated here for the first time is the physical interaction of TonB and FecA, which is enhanced by ferric citrate.
ARhizobium leguminosarumAcpXL Mutant Produces Lipopolysaccharide Lacking 27-Hydroxyoctacosanoic Acid
2003-03-04

ABSTRACT The structure of the lipid A from Rhizobium etli and Rhizobium leguminosarum lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) lacks phosphate and contains a galacturonosyl residue at its 4′ position, an acylated 2-aminogluconate in place of the proximal glucosamine, and a very long chain ω-1 hydroxy fatty acid, 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid (27OHC28:0). The 27OHC28:0 moiety is common in lipid A's among members of the Rhizobiaceae and also among a number of the facultative intracellular pathogens that form chronic infections, e.g., Brucella abortus , Bartonella henselae , and Legionella pneumophila . In this paper, a mutant of R. leguminosarum was created by placing a kanamycin resistance cassette within acpXL , the gene which encodes the acyl carrier protein for 27OHC28:0. The result was an LPS containing a tetraacylated lipid A lacking 27OHC28:0. A small amount of the mutant lipid A may contain an added palmitic acid residue. The mutant is sensitive to changes in osmolarity and an increase in acidity, growth conditions that likely occur in the nodule microenvironment. In spite of the probably hostile microenvironment of the nodule, the acpXL mutant is still able to form nitrogen-fixing root nodules even though the appearance and development of nodules are delayed. Therefore, it is possible that the acpXL mutant has a host-inducible mechanism which enables it to adapt to these physiological changes.
The FecI Extracytoplasmic-Function Sigma Factor of Escherichia coli Interacts with the β′ Subunit of RNA Polymerase
2003-03-04

ABSTRACT Transcription of the ferric citrate transport system of Escherichia coli K-12 is mediated by the extracytoplasmic-function (ECF) sigma factor FecI, which is activated by ferric citrate in the growth medium. By using a bacterial two-hybrid system, it was shown in vivo that FecI binds to the β′ subunit of RNA polymerase. The inactive mutant protein FecI(K155E) displayed reduced binding to β′, and small deletions along the entire FecI protein led to total impairment of β′ binding. In vitro, FecI was retained on Ni 2+ -nitrilotriacetic acid agarose loaded with a His-tagged β′ 1-313 fragment and coeluted with β′ 1-313 . Binding of FecI to β′ and β′ 1-313 was enhanced by FecR 1-85 , which represents the cytoplasmic portion of the FecR protein that transmits the inducing signal across the cytoplasmic membrane. Interaction of FecR with FecI was demonstrated by showing that isolated FecR inhibited degradation of FecI by trypsin. This is the first demonstration of binding of an ECF sigma factor of the FecI type to the β′ subunit of RNA polymerase and of binding being enhanced by the protein that activates the ECF sigma factor.
Induction of drug resistance and protein kinase C genes in A2780 ovarian cancer cells after incubation with antineoplastic agents at sublethal concentrations.
2003-03-07

We examined the inducibility of drug resistance (MDR1, MRP1, LRP) and protein kinase C (PKC) isozyme (alpha, epsilon, eta, theta, tau, zeta) corresponding genes in A2780 ovarian cancer cells after a 24-hour treatment with adriamycin (ADR), camptothecin (CAM), etoposide (ETO) or vincristine (VCR). Sublethal concentrations of drugs were used to exclude short-term effects caused by selection. Cell cycle analysis was performed to identify possible correlation between resistance factors, PKC isozymes and proliferation. We found a mostly combined induction of MDR1, LRP, PKC tau and PKC zeta by CAM, ETO and VCR. PKC alpha, epsilon, eta and theta gene expression altered variably. Cell cycle analysis showed that A2780 cells responded with a marked G2/M arrest after a 24-hour treatment with CAM, ETO and VCR but an association between the induction of PKC isozymes corresponding genes and proliferation was not seen. Our analysis points to a possible link between atypical PKC tau/PKC zeta and MDR1/LRP in cytostatic stress response of cancer cells.
Induction of N-myc in neuroblastoma by autocrine IGF-II depends on farnesylated Ras. Application of farnesyltransferase inhibitors.
2003-03-07

Genetic aberrations are the primary events leading to carcinogenesis in various tissues and are characteristic for certain tumor types. Amplification of N-myc and deletion of 1p significantly correlate with poor prognosis of neuroblastoma patients. Very little informations is available on the regulation of N-myc expression by external factors. Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) has been identified as an autocrine growth factor in neuroblastoma. Four neuroblastoma cell lines were examined for their expression of IGF-II and IGF-receptor. Stimulation of neuroblastoma cells with IGF-II leads to an increased activity of the MAP-kinase Erk1, an induction of N-myc expression and an enhanced proliferation rate. In order to disrupt the signal transduction of the IGF-receptor, we inactivated the Ras-proteins in neuroblastoma cells by inhibition of the farnesyl-protein transferase by FTI-277. This inactivation prevented activation of MAP-kinase Erk1 and induction of N-myc expression by IGF-II. Inactivation of Ras by farnesyltransferase inhibitors might become a promising new approach in future treatments of neuroblastoma tumors.
Sound damping in ferrofluids: Magnetically enhanced compressional viscosity
2003-03-10

The damping of sound waves in magnetized ferrofluids is investigated and shown to be considerably higher than in the nonmagnetized case. This fact may be interpreted as a field-enhanced, effective compressional viscosity-in analogy to the ubiquitous field-enhanced shear viscosity that is known to be the reason for many unusual behaviors of ferrofluids under shear.