julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Temozolomide, irradiation and hypoxia promote homing of hematopoietic progenitor cells towards gliomas
2006-06-20

20044 Background: Temozolomide and irradiation are essential parts of the standard therapy and hypoxia is a critical aspect of the microenvironment of gliomas. IN the present study, we aimed at investigating the impact of these stimuli on the previously defined transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)- and stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXC chemokine ligand 12 (SDF-1α/CXCL12)-dependent migration of adult hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HPC) towards glioma cells in vitro and the homing to experimental gliomas in vivo. Hyperthermia served as control. Methods and Results: Cerebral irradiation of nude mice at 21 days after intracerebral implantation of LNT-229 glioma induces tumor satellite formation and enhances the glioma tropism of HPC in vivo. Supernatants of temozolomide-treated, irradiated or hypoxic LNT-229 glioma cells promote HPC migration in vitro. Reporter assays reveal that the CXCL12 promoter activity is enhanced in LNT-229 glioma cells at 24 h after irradiation at 8 Gy or after exposure to 1% oxygen for 12 h. The irradiation- and hypoxia-induced release of CXCL12 depends on hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), but not on p53. Induction of transcriptional activity of HIF-1α by hypoxia and irradiation requires an intact signaling cascade of TGF-β. Conclusions: Thus, we delineate a novel stress signaling cascade in glioma cells involving TGF-β, HIF-1α and CXCL12. Stress stimuli can be temozolomide, irradiation and hypoxia but not hyperthermia. These data suggest that the use of HPC as cellular vectors in the treatment of glioblastoma may well be combined with anti-angiogenic therapies which induce tumor hypoxia. [Table: see text]
Identification of RGS5 as a tumor-associated antigen expressed in a broad range of human malignancies and recognized by antigen specific cytotoxic T cells
2006-06-20

2569 Background: Identification of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) have resulted in the development of therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer. We applied an integrated functional genomics approach to identify TAA in malignant tissues of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: A comparative DNA chip analysis of tumor and the corresponding non-malignant tissue from patients with RCC followed by sequencing of peptides bound to the HLA-class I molecules by mass spectrometry was applied to identify novel TAA in RCC. To confirm the immunogenicity of identified epitopes cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were generated using dendritic cells (DC). Results: RGS5 was found to be overexpressed in 16 of 29 analyzed RCC (5.7–29.9 fold) as compared to non-malignant renal tissue. Two peptides derived from RGS5 binding to either HLA-A*02 or 03 were identified. RGS5 was previously shown to be expressed in pericytes and promote tumor angiogenesis. Using RT-PCR analysis we found that RGS5 is expressed on a broad variety of tumor cells including RCC, colorectal, breast and ovarian cancer, malignant melanoma and multiple myeloma as well as in acute and chronic leukemias making this protein an interesting candidate for the development of vaccination strategies to target the tumor cells and the tumor vessels. CTL that were induced using the RGS5 peptides lysed autologous DC pulsed with the cognate peptide or transfected with in vitro transcribed RGS5 RNA as well as HLA-matched tumor cell lines. The specificity and HLA restriction was confirmed using blocking monoclonal antibodies and in cold-target inhibition assays. We next utilized DC transfected with RGS5 RNA to generate specific CTL. Using this approach we confirmed the processing and presentation of the identified peptides by malignant cells. These CTL lysed tumor cells in antigen specific manner while sparing non-malignant cells. In an ongoing vaccine trial RGS5 peptides could safely be given to RCC patients resulting in the induction of peptide specific CTL responses. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that RGS5 is a novel tumor rejection antigen expressed in a wide range of malignancies that can be applied to target malignant cells and tumor angiogenesis. [Table: see text]
Transmission potential of primary pneumonic plague: time inhomogeneous evaluation based on historical documents of the transmission network
2006-06-21

Background: The transmission potential of primary pneumonic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis , is one of the key epidemiological determinants of a potential biological weapon, and requires clarification and time dependent interpretation. Method: This study estimated the reproduction number and its time dependent change through investigations of outbreaks in Mukden, China (1946), and Madagascar (1957). Reconstruction of an epidemic tree, which shows who infected whom, from the observed dates of onset was performed using the serial interval. Furthermore, a likelihood based approach was used for the time inhomogeneous evaluation of the outbreaks for which there was scarcity of cases. Results: According to the estimates, the basic reproduction number, R 0 , was on the order of 2.8 to 3.5, which is higher than previous estimates. The lower 95% confidence intervals of R 0 exceeded unity. The effective reproduction number declined below unity after control measures were introduced in Mukden, and before the official implementation in Madagascar. Conclusion: While the time course of the latter outbreak could be explained by intrinsic factors and stochasticity in this remote and scarcely populated area, the former in Mukden suggests the possible continued chains of transmission in highly populated areas. Using the proposed methods, the who infected whom information permitted the evaluation of the time inhomogeneous transmission potential in relation to public health measures. The study also tackles the problem of statistical estimation of R 0 based on similar information, which was previously performed simply by counting the number of secondary transmissions regardless of time.
Chiral dynamics of baryons in a Lorentz covariant quark model
2006-06-21

We develop a manifestly Lorentz covariant chiral quark model for the study of baryons as bound states of constituent quarks dressed by a cloud of pseudoscalar mesons. The approach is based on a nonlinear chirally symmetric Lagrangian, which involves effective degrees of freedom---constituent quarks and the chiral (pseudoscalar meson) fields. In a first step, this Lagrangian can be used to perform a dressing of the constituent quarks by a cloud of light pseudoscalar mesons and other heavy states using the calculational technique of infrared dimensional regularization of loop diagrams. We calculate the dressed transition operators with a proper chiral expansion which are relevant for the interaction of quarks with external fields in the presence of a virtual meson cloud. In a second step, these dressed operators are used to calculate baryon matrix elements. Applications are worked out for the masses of the baryon octet, the meson-nucleon sigma terms, the magnetic moments of the baryon octet, the nucleon charge radii, the strong vector-meson-nucleon couplings, and the full momentum dependence of the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon.
Graph Cut based Panoramic 3D Modeling and Ground Truth Comparison with a Mobile Platform - The Wagele -
2006-06-21

Efficient and comfortable acquisition of large 3D scenes is an important topic for many current and future applications in the field of robotics, factory and office visualization, 3DTV and cultural heritage. In this paper we present both an omnidirectional stereo vision approach for 3D modeling based on graph cut techniques and also a new mobile 3D model acquisition platform where it is employed. The platform comprises a panoramic camera and a 2D laser range scanner for self localization by scan matching. 3D models are acquired just by moving the platform around and recording images in regular intervals. Additionally, we concurrently build 3D models using two supplementary laser range scanners. This enables the investigation of the stereo algorithm's quality by comparing it with the laser scanner based 3D model as ground truth. This offers a more objective point of view on the achieved 3D model quality.
High genetic divergences indicate ancient separation of parthenogenetic lineages of the oribatid mite Platynothrus peltifer (Acari, Oribatida)
2006-06-22

Abstract Theories on the evolution and maintenance of sex are challenged by the existence of ancient parthenogenetic lineages such as bdelloid rotifers and darwinulid ostracods. It has been proposed that several parthenogenetic and speciose taxa of oribatid mites (Acari) also have an ancient origin. We used nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I to estimate the age of the parthenogenetic oribatid mite species Platynothrus peltifer. Sixty-five specimens from 16 sites in North America, Europe and Asia were analysed. Seven major clades were identified. Within-clade genetic distances were below 2 % similar to the total intraspecific genetic diversity of most organisms. However, distances between clades averaged 56 % with a maximum of 125 %. We conclude that P. peltifer, as it is currently conceived, has existed for perhaps 100 million years, has an extant distribution that results from continental drift rather than dispersal and was subject to several cryptic speciations.
Infrared analysis of propagators and vertices of Yang-Mills theory in Landau and Coulomb gauge
2006-06-22

The infrared behaviour of gluon and ghost propagators, ghost-gluon vertex and three-gluon vertex is investigated for both the covariant Landau and the non-covariant Coulomb gauge. Assuming infrared ghost dominance, we find a unique infrared exponent in the d=4 Landau gauge, while in the d=3+1 Coulomb gauge we find two different infrared exponents. We also show that a finite dressing of the ghost-gluon vertex has no influence on the infrared exponents. Finally, we determine the infrared behaviour of the three-gluon vertex analytically and calculate it numerically at the symmetric point in the Coulomb gauge.
Hadronic electric dipole moments inR-parity violating supersymmetry
2006-06-22

We calculate the electric dipole moments (EDM) of the neutral Hg(199) atom, neutron and deuteron within a generic R-parity violating SUSY model (RPV SUSY) on the basis of a one-pion exchange model with CP-odd pion-nucleon interactions. We consider two types of the RPV SUSY contributions to the above hadronic EDMs: via the quark chromoelectric dipole moments (CEDM) and CP-violating 4-quark interactions. We demonstrate that the former contributes to all the three studied EDMs while the latter appears only in the nuclear EDMs via the CP-odd nuclear forces. We find that the RPV SUSY induced 4-quark interactions arise at tree level through the sneutrino exchange and involve only s and b quarks. Therefore, their effect in hadronic EDMs is determined by the strange and bottom-quark sea of the nucleon. From the null experimental results on the hadronic EDMs we derive the limits on the imaginary parts of certain products Im(lambda'* lambda') of the trilinear RPV-couplings and show that the currently best limits come from the Hg(199) EDM experiments. We demonstrate that some of these limits are better than those existing in the literature. We argue that future storage ring experiments on the deuteron EDM are able to improve these limits by several orders of magnitude.
Local Observation of Reverse-Domain Superconductivity in a Superconductor-Ferromagnet Hybrid
2006-06-22

Nanoscale magnetic and superconducting properties of the superconductor-ferromagnet Nb/PbFe12O19 hybrid were studied as a function of applied magnetic fields. Low-temperature scanning laser microscopy (LTSLM) together with transport measurements were carried out in order to reveal local variations of superconductivity induced by the magnetic field template produced by the ferromagnetic substrate. Room temperature magnetic force microscopy (MFM) was performed and magnetization curves were taken at room and low temperature to investigate the magnetic properties of the hybrid. Comparative analysis of the LTSLM and the MFM images has convincingly demonstrated the presence of the reverse-domain superconductivity.
A New Technique for the Isolation and Surface Immobilization of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Whole Bone Marrow Using High‐Specific DNA Aptamers
2006-06-23

Adult mesenchymal stem cells (aMSCs) are a stem cell population present in bone marrow, which can be isolated and expanded in culture and characterized. Due to the lack of specific surface markers, it is difficult to separate the MSCs from bone marrow directly. Here, we present a novel method using high-specific nucleic acids called aptamers. Porcine MSCs were used as a target to generate aptamers by combinatorial chemistry out of a huge random library with in vitro technology called systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). After cloning and sequencing, the binding affinity was detected using a cell-sorting assay with streptavidin-coated magnetic microbeads. We also used 12-well plates immobilized with aptamers to fish out MSCs from the cell solution and a fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled aptamer to sort MSCs from bone marrow using high-speed fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The cells showed high potency to differentiate into osteogenic, as well as into adipogenic, lineages with typical morphological characteristics. Surface marker staining showed that the attached cells were CD29(+), CD44(+), CD45(-), CD90(+), SLA class I(+), SLA DQ(-), and SLA DR(-). Compared with existing methods, this study established a novel, rapid, and efficient method for direct isolation of aMSCs from porcine bone marrow by using an aptamer as a probe to fish out the aMSCs. This new application of aptamers can facilitate aMSC isolation and enrichment greatly, thereby enhancing the rate of aMSC-derived cells after in vitro differentiation for various applications in the emerging field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Guidelines for the treatment of autoimmune neuromuscular transmission disorders
2006-06-23

Important progress has been made in our understanding of the cellular and molecular processes underlying the autoimmune neuromuscular transmission (NMT) disorders; myasthenia gravis (MG), Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and neuromyotonia (peripheral nerve hyperexcitability; Isaacs syndrome). To prepare consensus guidelines for the treatment of the autoimmune NMT disorders. References retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were considered and statements prepared and agreed on by disease experts and a patient representative. The proposed practical treatment guidelines are agreed upon by the Task Force: (i) Anticholinesterase drugs should be the first drug to be given in the management of MG (good practice point). (ii) Plasma exchange is recommended as a short‐term treatment in MG, especially in severe cases to induce remission and in preparation for surgery (level B recommendation). (iii) Intravenous immunoglobulin (IvIg) and plasma exchange are equally effective for the treatment of MG exacerbations (level A Recommendation). (iv) For patients with non‐thymomatous autoimmune MG, thymectomy (TE) is recommended as an option to increase the probability of remission or improvement (level B recommendation). (v) Once thymoma is diagnosed TE is indicated irrespective of the severity of MG (level A recommendation). (vi) Oral corticosteroids is a first choice drug when immunosuppressive drugs are necessary in MG (good practice point). (vii) In patients where long‐term immunosuppression is necessary, azathioprine is recommended together with steroids to allow tapering the steroids to the lowest possible dose whilst maintaining azathioprine (level A recommendation). (viii) 3,4‐diaminopyridine is recommended as symptomatic treatment and IvIg has a positive short‐term effect in LEMS (good practice point). (ix) All neuromyotonia patients should be treated symptomatically with an anti‐epileptic drug that reduces peripheral nerve hyperexcitability (good practice point). (x) Definitive management of paraneoplastic neuromyotonia and LEMS is treatment of the underlying tumour (good practice point). (xi) For immunosuppressive treatment of LEMS and NMT it is reasonable to adopt treatment procedures by analogy with MG (good practice point).
Growth hormone treatment and adverse events in Prader–Willi syndrome: data from KIGS (the Pfizer International Growth Database)
2006-06-23

Summary Objective To evaluate the response to recombinant GH treatment and adverse events in children with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) from KIGS, the Pfizer International Growth Database. Patients A total of 328 children (274 prepubertal, median age 6·0 years; 54 pubertal, median age 12·7 years) were treated for 1 year and 161 children were treated for 2 years with GH. Results Height standard deviation score (SDS) increased significantly during treatment; the response was greater in prepubertal (−0·7 vs. −1·8 pretreatment) compared with pubertal children (−1·5 vs. −1·8). Predictors of first‐year height velocity in multiple regression analysis were GH dose, body weight (positively correlated), height SDS minus mid‐parental height SDS and chronological age (negatively correlated), together accounting for 39% of the variation in response to GH. Body mass index (BMI) SDS did not change significantly during 2 years of treatment. Of all the 675 GH‐treated PWS patients in KIGS, there were five cases of sudden death (age range 3–15 years). Three were obese (weight for height &gt; 200%) and causes of death included bronchopneumonia, respiratory insufficiency and sleep apnoea. Scoliosis was the most commonly reported adverse event ( n = 24), four children developed hyperglycaemia and six had presumptive diabetes (type 2 in five, and one case of type 1). Conclusions Short‐term growth improved in response to conventional doses of GH in children with PWS. Prior to commencement of GH, examination of the upper airways and sleep studies should be performed in PWS patients. GH should be used with caution in those with extreme obesity or disordered breathing and all patients should be closely monitored for adverse events.
Echinococcus multilocularis metacestodes modulate cellular cytokine and chemokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in alveolar echinococcosis patients
2006-06-23

Summary Infection with the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis causes human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a life-threatening disease affecting primarily the liver. Despite the severity of AE, clinical symptoms often develop only many years after infection, which suggests that E. multilocularis has developed mechanisms which depress anti-parasite immune response, thus favouring immune evasion. In this study we examined the production of cytokines, chemokines and the expression of CD molecules on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from AE patients and healthy controls in response to E. multilocularis metacestode culture supernatant, viable E. multilocularis vesicles and E. multilocularis vesicle fluid antigen in vitro. After 48 h of co-culture, E. multilocularis metacestode culture supernatant and E. multilocularis vesicles depressed the release of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-12 by PBMC. This effect was dose-dependent and a suppression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-12 was observed even when PBMC were activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Comparing proinflammatory cytokine release by AE patients and controls showed that the release of IL-12 and TNF-α was reduced in AE patients, which was accompanied by an increased number of CD4+ CD25+ cells and a reduced release of the Th2 type chemokine CCL17 (thymus and activation regulated chemokine, TARC), suggesting an anti-inflammatory response to E. multilocularis metacestode in AE patients. Instead the production of interferon (IFN)-γ and the expression of CD28 on CD4+ T cells were increased in PBMC from AE patients when compared to controls. This was accompanied by a higher release of the Th2-type chemokine CCL22 (macrophage derived chemokine, MDC) supporting that E. multilocularis also generates proinflammatory immune responses. These results indicate that E. multilocularis antigens modulated both regulatory and inflammatory Th1 and Th2 cytokines and chemokines. Such a mixed profile might be required for limiting parasite growth but also for reducing periparasitic tissue and organ damage in the host.
Serum levels of sCD137 (4‐1BB) ligand are prognostic factors for progression in acute myeloid leukemia but not in non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma
2006-06-23

Abstract: CD178 (Fas/APO‐1 ligand) and CD137 ligand (CD137L) have previously been described in sera of patients with various malignancies and play an important role in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Recently, we demonstrated that low levels of soluble (s) CD137L and high levels of sCD178 correlate significantly with a long progression free survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In this study, we correlated sCD137L and sCD178 levels in sera of 42 samples of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 46 samples of patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with stages, subtypes, and the clinical course of the diseases and determined cut‐off values with maximum probability for significant differentiation between cases with higher/lower probability for progress free survival. In contrast to patients with MDS, surprisingly no correlation between sCD178 levels and different subtypes and stages or with prognosis in AML or NHL were observed. Regarding sCD137L, NHL‐patients displayed lower levels compared with AML. Statistically significant higher median levels of sCD137L are present in patients with undifferentiated AML (M1/M2, 1470 pg/mL), poor cytogenetic risk (288 pg/mL) and higher levels of BM‐blasts (186 pg/mL) compared with patients with monocytoid AML (M4/M5, 89 pg/mL), intermediate cytogenetic risk (59 pg/mL) and lower levels of BM‐blasts (14 pg/mL) respectively. Furthermore, in AML patients sCD137L levels correlate significantly with the probabilities to achieve complete remission (CR), stay in CR or with progress of the disease. Taken together, our data demonstrate that sCD137L can be used as a prognostic factor not only in MDS but also in AML.
The effect of dose reduction on the detection of anatomical structures on panoramic radiographs
2006-06-23

New regular intensifying screens can replace medium screens at low tube potential settings. Digital panoramic radiographs should be taken at low tube potential levels with an exposure equivalent at least to a regular intensifying screen.