julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Cholesterol Synthesis Is Associated with Hepatic Lipid Content and Dependent on Fructose/Glucose Intake in Healthy Humans
2011-11-30

Visceral obesity and fatty liver have been related to high synthesis and low absorption of cholesterol. This study aimed to investigate the associations of cholesterol metabolism with liver and visceral fat content in healthy humans. Another objective was to explore the effects of very-high-fructose and very-high-glucose diets on cholesterol homeostasis. We report on a cohort of 20 people (12 males, 8 females; age<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mn>30.5</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>2.0</mml:mn></mml:math>years; body mass index<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mn>25.9</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.5</mml:mn></mml:math> kg/m 2 ) who completed a four-week dietary intervention study. Between the baseline and the followup examination the study participants in addition to a balanced weight-maintaining diet received 150 g of either fructose or glucose per day. Visceral and liver fat were measured with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and 1 H-MR spectroscopy, respectively. Cholesterol absorption and synthesis were estimated from the serum noncholesterol sterol concentrations. Performing cross-sectional analyses the lanosterol and desmosterol to cholesterol ratios were positively correlated with visceral and liver fat content (all<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo><mml:mn>.03</mml:mn></mml:math>). The lathosterol to cholesterol ratio decreased in response to high-fructose diet (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>.006</mml:mn></mml:math>) but not in response to high-glucose diet. To conclude, visceral and liver fat content are associated with cholesterol synthesis in healthy humans. Furthermore, cholesterol synthesis appears to be dependent on fructose/glucose intake.
Barium Bis(dimethylsilyl)amide – Adduct vs. Oxo Formation
2011-11-30

Abstract Silylamide [Ba{N(SiHMe 2 ) 2 } 2 ] n reacts with 1,10‐phenanthroline (Phen) in toluene to give the donor adduct [Ba{N(SiHMe 2 ) 2 } 2 (Phen)] 2 . X‐ray structure analysis revealed a dimeric solid‐state structure with two bridging silylamido ligands and Ba ··· SiH β‐agostic interactions, which are most pronounced for the terminal silylamido ligands. Treatment of [Ba{N(SiHMe 2 ) 2 } 2 ] n with GaMe 3 did not lead to the isolation of putative Lewis acid adduct [Ba(μ‐{N(SiHMe 2 ) 2 })(μ‐Me)(GaMe 2 )] but resulted in the soluble, low aggregated barium oxo complex [Ba(μ 4 ‐O)(GaMe 3 ) 2 (toluene)] 2 , which is reminiscent of inverse crown ethers.
Gas Sensors: The Role of NiO Doping in Reducing the Impact of Humidity on the Performance of SnO2‐Based Gas Sensors: Synthesis Strategies, and Phenomenological and Spectroscopic Studies (Adv. Funct. Mater. 23/2011)
2011-11-30

The loading of NiO provides a new strategy to achieve humidity-independent SnO2 gas sensors. When NiO is loaded to hierarchical SnO2 nanostructures, the humidity dependence of the gas sensing characteris-tics, such as gas sensitivity, response speed, recovery speed, and resistance in air, are decreased to a negli-gible level. On page 4456, Nicolae Barsan, Jong-Heun Lee, and co-workers confirmed that NiO plays the key role of a strong humidity absorber and protects the SnO2 from the influence of water-derived species.
Platelet-Derived MHC Class I Confers a Pseudonormal Phenotype to Cancer Cells That Subverts the Antitumor Reactivity of Natural Killer Immune Cells
2011-12-01

Abstract Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that play an important role in tumor immunosurveillance, preferentially eliminating targets with low or absent expression of MHC class I and stress-induced expression of ligands for activating NK receptors. Platelets promote metastasis by protecting disseminating tumor cells from NK cell immunosurveillance, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we show that tumor cells rapidly get coated in the presence of platelets in vitro, and circulating tumor cells of cancer patients display coexpression of platelet markers. Flow cytometry, immunofluorescent staining, confocal microscopy, and analyses on an ultrastructural level using immunoelectron microscopy revealed that such coating may cause transfer of MHC class I onto the tumor cell surface resulting in high-level expression of platelet-derived normal MHC class I. The resulting “phenotype of false pretenses” disrupts recognition of tumor cell missing self, thereby impairing cytotoxicity and IFN-γ production by NK cells. Thus, our data indicate that platelets, by conferring an unsuspicious “pseudonormal” phenotype, may enable a molecular mimicry that allows metastasizing tumor cells to downregulate MHC class I, to escape T-cell–mediated immunity without inducing susceptibility to NK cell reactivity. Cancer Res; 72(2); 440–8. ©2011 AACR.
Atg13 and FIP200 act independently of Ulk1 and Ulk2 in autophagy induction
2011-12-01

Under normal growth conditions the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) negatively regulates the central autophagy regulator complex consisting of Unc-51-like kinases 1/2 (Ulk1/2), focal adhesion kinase family-interacting protein of 200 kDa (FIP200) and Atg13. Upon starvation, mTORC1-mediated repression of this complex is released, which then leads to Ulk1/2 activation. In this scenario, Atg13 has been proposed as an adaptor mediating the interaction between Ulk1/2 and FIP200 and enhancing Ulk1/2 kinase activity. Using Atg13-deficient cells, we demonstrate that Atg13 is indispensable for autophagy induction. We further show that Atg13 function strictly depends on FIP200 binding. In contrast, the simultaneous knockout of Ulk1 and Ulk2 did not have a similar effect on autophagy induction. Accordingly, the Ulk1-dependent phosphorylation sites we identified in Atg13 are expendable for this process. This suggests that Atg13 has an additional function independent of Ulk1/2 and that Atg13 and FIP200 act in concert during autophagy induction.
Resveratrol-mediated autophagy requires WIPI-1-regulated LC3 lipidation in the absence of induced phagophore formation
2011-12-01

Canonical autophagy is positively regulated by the Beclin 1/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class III (PtdIns3KC3) complex that generates an essential phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns(3)P), for the formation of autophagosomes. Previously, we identified the human WIPI protein family and found that WIPI-1 specifically binds PtdIns(3)P, accumulates at the phagophore and becomes a membrane protein of generated autophagosomes. Combining siRNA-mediated protein downregulation with automated high through-put analysis of PtdIns(3)P-dependent autophagosomal membrane localization of WIPI-1, we found that WIPI-1 functions upstream of both Atg7 and Atg5, and stimulates an increase of LC3-II upon nutrient starvation. Resveratrol-mediated autophagy was shown to enter autophagic degradation in a noncanonical manner, independent of Beclin 1 but dependent on Atg7 and Atg5. By using electron microscopy, LC3 lipidation and GFP-LC3 puncta-formation assays we confirmed these results and found that this effect is partially wortmannin-insensitive. In line with this, resveratrol did not promote phagophore localization of WIPI-1, WIPI-2 or the Atg16L complex above basal level. In fact, the presence of resveratrol in nutrient-free conditions inhibited phagophore localization of WIPI-1. Nevertheless, we found that resveratrol-mediated autophagy functionally depends on canonical-driven LC3-II production, as shown by siRNA-mediated downregulation of WIPI-1 or WIPI-2. From this it is tempting to speculate that resveratrol promotes noncanonical autophagic degradation downstream of the PtdIns(3)P-WIPI-Atg7-Atg5 pathway, by engaging a distinct subset of LC3-II that might be generated at membrane origins apart from canonical phagophore structures.
Vibration responses of the organ of Corti and the tectorial membrane to electrical stimulation
2011-12-01

Coupling of somatic electromechanical force from the outer hair cells (OHCs) into the organ of Corti is investigated by measuring transverse vibration patterns of the organ of Cori and tectorial membrane (TM) in response to intracochlear electrical stimulation. Measurement places at the organ of Corti extend from the inner sulcus cells to Hensen’s cells and at the lower (and upper) surface of the TM from the inner sulcus to the OHC region. These locations are in the neighborhood of where electromechanical force is coupled into (1) the mechanoelectrical transducers of the stereocilia and (2) fluids of the organ of Corti. Experiments are conducted in the first, second, and third cochlear turns of an in vitro preparation of the adult guinea pig cochlea. Vibration measurements are made at functionally relevant stimulus frequencies (0.48–68 kHz) and response amplitudes (&amp;lt;15 nm). The experiments provide phase relations between the different structures, which, dependent on frequency range and longitudinal cochlear position, include in-phase transverse motions of the TM, counterphasic transverse motions between the inner hair cell and OHCs, as well as traveling-wave motion of Hensen’s cells in the radial direction. Mechanics of sound processing in the cochlea are discussed based on these phase relationships.
Apigenin-Induced Suicidal Erythrocyte Death
2011-12-01

Apigenin, a flavone in fruits and vegetables, stimulates apoptosis and thus counteracts cancerogenesis. Erythrocytes may similarly undergo suicidal cell death or eryptosis, characterized by cell shrinkage and phosphatidylserine exposure at the cell surface. Triggers of eryptosis include increase of cytosolic Ca(2+) activity ([Ca(2+)](i)), ceramide formation and ATP depletion. The present study explored the effect of apigenin on eryptosis. [Ca(2+)](i) was estimated from Fluo3-fluorescence, cell volume from forward scatter, phosphatidylserine exposure from annexin V binding, hemolysis from hemoglobin release, ceramide utilizing antibodies, and cytosolic ATP with luciferin-luciferase. A 48 h exposure to apigenin significantly increased [Ca(2+)](i) (≥ 1 μM), increased ceramide formation (15 μM), decreased ATP concentration (15 μM), decreased forward scatter (≥ 1 μM), and increased annexin V binding (≥ 5 μM) but did not significantly modify hemolysis. The effect of 15 μM apigenin on annexin V binding was blunted by Ca(2+) removal. The present observations reveal novel effects of apigenin, i.e. stimulation of Ca(2+) entry, ceramide formation and ATP depletion in erythrocytes with subsequent triggering of suicidal erythrocyte death, paralleled by cell shrinkage and phosphatidylserine exposure.
MICROTAPHOFACIES ANALYSIS OF LOWER OLIGOCENE TURBID-WATER CORAL ASSEMBLAGES
2011-12-01

The presence, distribution, and preservation of coral-rich facies in the lower Oligocene Gornji Grad Beds of Slovenia are analyzed using a microtaphofacies approach. This method allows taphonomic signatures to be recognized in thin section along with the presence of coral specimens and growth forms within and between stratigraphic logs. Coral-dominated limestones within the Gornji Grad Beds are represented by rudstones in a packstone-wackestone matrix. The conditions are generally reconstructedas turbid water due to the prevalence of muddy carbonate matrix, which also leads to excellently preserved morphological features in thin section. These beds represent a reference area for the study of Paleogene corals, especially during the Oligocene, a key phase of reef development during the Cenozoic. This study also contributes to the characterization of fossil reefs in turbid-water environments. The evaluated coral fauna is dominated by delicate-branching Stylophora and Acropora, although thickly branching (Actinacis, Goniopora), phaceloid (Caulastrea), and massive forms (Alveopora, Astreopora, Antiguastrea) also occur. Assessed taphonomic signatures include fragmentation, abrasion, bioerosion, and encrustation. Three types of bioerosion traces are distinguished (Entobia, Gastrochoenolites, Trypanites). Encrustation includes both thincrusts and complex multi-taxon sequences dominated by coralline algae. Five microtaphofacies are distinguished based on variation of taphonomic signatures, taxonomic composition, and growth forms. Differences in microtaphofacies are interpreted with respect to turbidity, sediment accumulation, and water turbulence; both parautochthonous and allochthonous deposits are reconstructed. A depositional model based on the distribution of microtaphofacies in the studied sections shows a succession of coral communities with different colonization strategies reflecting generally high stress levels.
Mental Fatigue Modulates Dynamic Adaptation to Perceptual Demand in Speeded Detection
2011-12-01

When stimulus intensity in simple reaction-time tasks randomly varies across trials, detection speed usually improves after a low-intensity trial. With auditory stimuli, this improvement was often found to be asymmetric, being greater on current low-intensity trials. Our study investigated (1) whether asymmetric sequential intensity adaptation also occurs with visual stimuli; (2) whether these adjustments reflect decision-criterion shifts or, rather, a modulation of perceptual sensitivity; and (3) how sequential intensity adaptation and its underlying mechanisms are affected by mental fatigue induced through prolonged performance. In a continuous speeded detection task with randomly alternating high- and low-intensity visual stimuli, the reaction-time benefit after low-intensity trials was greater on subsequent low- than high-intensity trials. This asymmetry, however, only developed with time on task (TOT). Signal-detection analyses showed that the decision criterion transiently became more liberal after a low-intensity trial, whereas observer sensitivity increased when the preceding and current stimulus were of equal intensity. TOT-induced mental fatigue only affected sensitivity, which dropped more on low- than on high-intensity trials. This differential fatigue-related sensitivity decrease selectively enhanced the impact of criterion down-shifts on low-intensity trials, revealing how the interplay of two perceptual mechanisms and their modulation by fatigue combine to produce the observed overall pattern of asymmetric performance adjustments to varying visual intensity in continuous speeded detection. Our results have implications for similar patterns of sequential demand adaptation in other cognitive domains as well as for real-world prolonged detection performance.
Transcranial sonography as a diagnostic tool for Parkinson's disease: a pilot study in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011-12-01

In Brazil there is no systematic study on Transcranial Sonography (TCS), a neuroimaging method that depicts echogenic deep brain structures using ultrasound. OBJECTIVE: To establish the percentage of subjects with permissive temporal windows and to address the ability of TCS of the substantia nigra (SN) to distinguish parkinsonian patients in a Brazilian sample. METHOD: We performed TCS using the Acuson X300 (Siemens, Germany) in 37 individuals: 23 with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 14 healthy controls. RESULTS: 10.8% of subjects had insufficient temporal acoustic bone windows. SN echogenic areas were larger in patients (mean±SD, 0.31±0.08cm2) compared to controls (mean±SD, 0.17±0.02cm2). TCS accurately identified 88.2% of PD patients. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of Brazilians seem to be eligible for TCS. An expressive number of PD patients could be diagnosed by TCS based on an expanded SN echogenic area. However, the current data is preliminary and must be corroborated by larger studies.
Delineation of the clinical phenotype associated with non-mosaic type-2 NF1 deletions: two case reports
2011-12-01

Abstract Introduction Large deletions of the NF1 gene and its flanking regions are frequently associated with a severe clinical manifestation. Different types of gross NF1 deletion have been identified that are distinguishable both by their size and the number of genes included within the deleted regions. Type-1 NF1 deletions encompass 1.4 Mb and include 14 genes, whereas the much less common type-2 NF1 deletions span 1.2 Mb and contain 13 genes. Genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with large NF1 deletions are likely to be influenced by the nature and number of the genes deleted in addition to the NF1 gene. Whereas the clinical phenotype associated with type-1 NF1 deletions has been well documented, the detailed clinical characterization of patients with non-mosaic type-2 NF1 deletions has not so far been reported. Case presentation In the present report we characterized two Caucasian European patients with non-mosaic (germline) type-2 NF1 deletions. Our first patient was a 13-year-old girl with dysmorphic facial features, mild developmental delay, large hands and feet, hyperflexibility of the joints, macrocephaly and T2 hyperintensities in the brain. A whole-body magnetic resonance imaging scan indicated two internal plexiform neurofibromas. Our second patient was an 18-year-old man who exhibited dysmorphic facial features, developmental delay, learning disability, large hands and feet, hyperflexibility of the joints, macrocephaly and a very high subcutaneous and internal tumor load as measured volumetrically on whole-body magnetic resonance imaging scans. At the age of 18 years, he developed a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor and died from secondary complications. Both our patients exhibited cardiovascular malformations. Conclusions Our two patients with non-mosaic type-2 NF1 deletions exhibited clinical features that have been reported in individuals with germline type-1 NF1 deletions. Therefore, a severe disease manifestation is not confined to only patients with type-1 NF1 deletions but may also occur in individuals with type-2 NF1 deletions. Our findings support the concept of an NF1 microdeletion syndrome with severe clinical manifestation that is caused by type-1 as well as type-2 NF1 deletions.
Granular security for a science gateway in structural bioinformatics
2011-12-01

Structural Bioinformatics is concerned with computational methods\\n\\nfor the analysis and modeling of three-dimensional molecular\\n\\nstructures. There is a plethora of computational tools available to work\\n\\nwith structural data on a large scale. Using these tools on distributed\\n\\ncomputing infrastructures (DCI), however, is often hampered by a\\n\\nlack of suitable interfaces. The MoSGrid (Molecular Simulation Grid)\\n\\nscience gateway provides an intuitive user interface to several widelyused\\n\\ntools in structural bioinformatics. It ensures the confidentiality,\\n\\nintegrity and availability of data via a granular security concept which\\n\\ncovers all layers of the infrastructure. The concept applies SAML\\n\\n(Security Assertion Markup Language) and allows trust delegation\\n\\nfrom the user interface layer across the high-level middleware layer\\n\\nand the grid middleware layer down to the HPC facilities. SAML\\n\\nassertions had to be integrated into the MoSGrid infrastructure in\\n\\nseveral places: the workflow-enabled grid portal WS-PGRADE, the\\n\\ngUSE (grid User Support Environment) DCI services, and the cloud\\n\\nfile system XtreemFS. The security infrastructure presented here\\n\\nallows single sign-on and thus lowers the hurdle for users to utilize\\n\\nlarge HPC infrastructures for structural bioinformatics.
Dependency of the regio- and stereoselectivity of intramolecular, ring-closing glycosylations upon the ring size
2011-12-01

Phenyl 3,4,6-tri- O -benzyl-2- O -(3-carboxypropionyl)-1-thio-β-D-galactopyranoside ( 1 ) was condensed via its pentafluorophenyl ester 2 with 5-aminopentyl ( 4a ), 4-aminobutyl ( 4b ), 3-aminopropyl ( 4c ) and 2-aminoethyl 4,6- O -benzylidene-β-D-glucopyranoside ( 4d ), prepared from the corresponding N -Cbz protected glucosides 3a – d , to give the corresponding 2-[3-(alkylcarbamoyl)propionyl] tethered saccharides 5a – d . Intramolecular, ring closing glycosylation of the saccharides with NIS and TMSOTf afforded the tethered β(1→3) linked disaccharides 6a – c , the α(1→3) linked disaccharides 7a – d and the α(1→2) linked disaccharide 8d in ratios depending upon the ring size formed during glycosylation. No β(1→2) linked disaccharides were formed. Molecular modeling of saccharides 6 – 8 revealed that a strong aromatic stacking interaction between the aromatic parts of the benzyl and benzylidene protecting groups in the galactosyl and glucosyl moieties was mainly responsible for the observed regioselectivity and anomeric selectivity of the ring-closing glycosylation step.
Intrajugular Balloon Catheter for Prevention of Air Embolism
2011-12-01

Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany The described intrajugular balloon catheter is a pending patent by the Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany. V.-S. E. is the inventor of the described patent. C. G. has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Clinical Characteristics, Surgical Management and Adjuvant Therapy of Patients with Uterine Leiomyosarcoma: 27 Years of Experience
2011-12-01

<b>Purpose:</b> To review a single-center experience over a 27-year period in the management of uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) for insight into surgical practice, adjuvant therapy and clinical outcome. <b>Material and Methods:</b> This was a retrospective study of women with histologically proven uterine LMS who were treated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tuebingen, Germany, between 1983 and 2010. Inpatient and ambulatory records were reviewed; follow-up and survival data were ascertained. <b>Results:</b> The study sample comprised 32 patients with uterine LMS. Primary surgical treatment consisted of total abdominal hysterectomy in 28 patients (88 %) and laparoscopic total hysterectomy in 4 patients (12 %). Lymph nodes were dissected and evaluated in 17 women (53 %); positive lymph nodes were present in 1 patient (6 %). A total of 17 patients (53 %) received adjuvant therapy. Median follow-up for disease-free survival (DFS) was 35.6 months and median DFS was 27.0 months for all patients. The median follow-up for overall survival (OS) was 51.3 months and the median OS was 28.0 months for our study group. The 5-year survival rate was 30 %. There was no significant difference in DFS (p = 0.76) and OS (p = 0.51) between patients who received adjuvant therapy and those who did not. <b>Conclusion:</b> Uterine LMS are rare and aggressive uterine neoplasms with high recurrence rates and metastatic potential. Surgery consisting of total hysterectomy with or without bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the most important treatment-element in patients with uterine LMS. Lymphadenectomy should be reserved for patients with clinically suspicious nodes.