| 1. |
- Hornillos, M. B. G., et al.
(författare)
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gamma-ray spectroscopy approaching the limits of existence of atomic nuclei : A study of the excited states of Pt-168 and Pt-169
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X. ; 79:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excited states in the N=90 and N=91 Pt nuclei have been investigated using the JUROGAM and GREAT spectrometers in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator. These nuclei were populated via the reactions Mo-92(Kr-78,2n) and Mo-94(Kr-78,3n) at 335 and 348 MeV, respectively. The recoil-decay tagging technique has been used to correlate prompt gamma radiation with the characteristic alpha decays of Pt-168 and Pt-169. A gamma-gamma analysis has allowed a level scheme for Pt-168 to be reported for the first time and the level scheme for Pt-169 to be extended. The excitation energies of the proposed positive-parity yrast states of Pt-168 are compared with calculations based on the interacting boson model and found to be in excellent agreement. These data show a continuation of the trend toward vibrational nuclei as the N=82 shell gap is approached. In addition, new excited states constituting two decay paths have been discovered in Pt-169. .
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| 2. |
- O'Donnell, D., et al.
(författare)
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First observation of excited states in Hg-175(95)
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X. ; 79:5, s. 051304-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excited states of the neutron-deficient nucleus Hg-175, populated using fusion-evaporation reactions, are reported for the first time. The spin and parity of the ground state has been determined to be I-pi=7/2(-) through measurements of the alpha decay to the daughter nucleus Pt-171. A structure based on an isomeric state [T-1/2=0.34(3) mu s] with I-pi=13/2(+) and its decay path to the ground state have been established. The observed structures are interpreted in terms of single-particle configurations, and the trends of coexisting shapes in neighboring nuclei are discussed.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Preston, Roger J. S., et al.
(författare)
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Platelet Factor 4 Impairs the Anticoagulant Activity of Activated Protein C
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 284:9, s. 5869-5875
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Platelet factor 4 (PF4) is an abundant platelet alpha-granule chemokine released following platelet activation. PF4 interacts with thrombomodulin and the gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain of protein C, thereby enhancing activated protein C (APC) generation by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. However, the protein C Gla domain not only mediates protein C activation in vivo, but also plays a critical role in modulating the diverse functional properties of APC once generated. In this study we demonstrate that PF4 significantly inhibits APC anticoagulant activity. PF4 inhibited both protein S-dependentAPC anticoagulant function in plasma and protein S-dependent factor Va (FVa) proteolysis 3- to 5-fold, demonstrating that PF4 impairs protein S cofactor enhancement of APC anticoagulant function. Using recombinant factor Va variants FVa-R506Q/R679Q and FVa-R306Q/R679Q, PF4 was shown to impair APC proteolysis of FVa at position Arg306 by 3-fold both in the presence and absence of protein S. These data suggest that PF4 contributes to the poorly understood APC resistance phenotype associated with activated platelets. Finally, despite PF4 binding to the APC Gla domain, we show that APC in the presence of PF4 retains its ability to initiate PAR-1-mediated cytoprotective signaling. In summary, we propose that PF4 acts as a critical regulator of APC generation, but also differentially targets APC toward cytoprotective, rather than anticoagulant function at sites of vascular injury with concurrent platelet activation.
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| 5. |
- Schaap, M., et al.
(författare)
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Standardized evaluation methodology and reference database for evaluating coronary artery centerline extraction algorithms
- 2009
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Ingår i: Medical Image Analysis. - : Elsevier. - 1361-8415 .- 1361-8423. ; 13:5, s. 701-714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficiently obtaining a reliable coronary artery centerline from computed tomography angiography data is relevant in clinical practice. Whereas numerous methods have been presented for this purpose, up to now no standardized evaluation methodology has been published to reliably evaluate and compare the performance of the existing or newly developed coronary artery centerline extraction algorithms. This paper describes a standardized evaluation methodology and reference database for the quantitative evaluation of coronary artery centerline extraction algorithms. The contribution of this work is fourfold: (1) a method is described to create a consensus centerline with multiple observers, (2) well-defined measures are presented for the evaluation of coronary artery centerline extraction algorithms, (3) a database containing 32 cardiac CTA datasets with corresponding reference standard is described and made available, and (4) 13 coronary artery centerline extraction algorithms, implemented by different research groups, are quantitatively evaluated and compared. The presented evaluation framework is made available to the medical imaging community for benchmarking existing or newly developed coronary centerline extraction algorithms.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Bäckhed, Fredrik, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Postnatal lymphatic partitioning from the blood vasculature in the small intestine requires fasting-induced adipose factor
- 2007
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Ingår i: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. ; 104:2, s. 606-611
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lymphatic vessels develop from specialized venous endothelial cells. Using knockout mice, we found that fasting-induced adipose factor (Fiaf) is required for functional partitioning of postnatal intestinal lymphatic and blood vessels. In wild-type animals, levels of intestinal Fiaf expression rise during the first postnatal day and peak at day 2, which coincides with the onset of the lymphatico-venous partitioning abnormality in Fiaf-/- mutants on a mixed 129/SvJ:C57BL/6 genetic background. Fiaf deficiency is not associated with disruption of the blood vasculature or with lymphatic endothelial recruitment of smooth muscle cells. We identified Prox1, a critical regulator of lymphangiogenesis, as a downstream target for Fiaf signaling in the intestinal lymphatic endothelium. This organ-specific lymphovascular abnormality can be rescued by allowing embryonic Fiaf-/- intestinal isografts to develop in Fiaf+/+ recipients.
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| 8. |
- Heard-Costa, Nancy L, et al.
(författare)
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NRXN3 is a novel locus for waist circumference : a genome-wide association study from the CHARGE Consortium
- 2009
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Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 5:6, s. e1000539-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Central abdominal fat is a strong risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. To identify common variants influencing central abdominal fat, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association analysis for waist circumference (WC). In total, three loci reached genome-wide significance. In stage 1, 31,373 individuals of Caucasian descent from eight cohort studies confirmed the role of FTO and MC4R and identified one novel locus associated with WC in the neurexin 3 gene [NRXN3 (rs10146997, p = 6.4×10−7)]. The association with NRXN3 was confirmed in stage 2 by combining stage 1 results with those from 38,641 participants in the GIANT consortium (p = 0.009 in GIANT only, p = 5.3×10−8 for combined analysis, n = 70,014). Mean WC increase per copy of the G allele was 0.0498 z-score units (0.65 cm). This SNP was also associated with body mass index (BMI) [p = 7.4×10−6, 0.024 z-score units (0.10 kg/m2) per copy of the G allele] and the risk of obesity (odds ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.19; p = 3.2×10−5 per copy of the G allele). The NRXN3 gene has been previously implicated in addiction and reward behavior, lending further evidence that common forms of obesity may be a central nervous system-mediated disorder. Our findings establish that common variants in NRXN3 are associated with WC, BMI, and obesity.
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| 9. |
- Kathiresan, Sekar, et al.
(författare)
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Common variants at 30 loci contribute to polygenic dyslipidemia
- 2009
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 41:1, s. 56-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Blood low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. To dissect the polygenic basis of these traits, we conducted genome-wide association screens in 19,840 individuals and replication in up to 20,623 individuals. We identified 30 distinct loci associated with lipoprotein concentrations (each with P < 5 x 10(-8)), including 11 loci that reached genome-wide significance for the first time. The 11 newly defined loci include common variants associated with LDL cholesterol near ABCG8, MAFB, HNF1A and TIMD4; with HDL cholesterol near ANGPTL4, FADS1-FADS2-FADS3, HNF4A, LCAT, PLTP and TTC39B; and with triglycerides near AMAC1L2, FADS1-FADS2-FADS3 and PLTP. The proportion of individuals exceeding clinical cut points for high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides varied according to an allelic dosage score (P < 10(-15) for each trend). These results suggest that the cumulative effect of multiple common variants contributes to polygenic dyslipidemia.
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| 10. |
- Loring, SH, et al.
(författare)
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Transpulmonary pressures and lung mechanics with glossopharyngeal insufflation and exsufflation beyond normal lung volumes in competitive breath-hold divers
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). - : American Physiological Society. - 8750-7587 .- 1522-1601. ; 102:3, s. 841-846
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Throughout life, most mammals breathe between maximal and minimal lung volumes determined by respiratory mechanics and muscle strength. In contrast, competitive breath-hold divers exceed these limits when they employ glossopharyngeal insufflation (GI) before a dive to increase lung gas volume (providing additional oxygen and intrapulmonary gas to prevent dangerous chest compression at depths recently greater than 100 m) and glossopharyngeal exsufflation (GE) during descent to draw air from compressed lungs into the pharynx for middle ear pressure equalization. To explore the mechanical effects of these maneuvers on the respiratory system, we measured lung volumes by helium dilution with spirometry and computed tomography and estimated transpulmonary pressures using an esophageal balloon after GI and GE in four competitive breath-hold divers. Maximal lung volume was increased after GI by 0.13–2.84 liters, resulting in volumes 1.5–7.9 SD above predicted values. The amount of gas in the lungs after GI increased by 0.59–4.16 liters, largely due to elevated intrapulmonary pressures of 52–109 cmH2O. The transpulmonary pressures increased after GI to values ranging from 43 to 80 cmH2O, 1.6–2.9 times the expected values at total lung capacity. After GE, lung volumes were reduced by 0.09–0.44 liters, and the corresponding transpulmonary pressures decreased to −15 to −31 cmH2O, suggesting closure of intrapulmonary airways. We conclude that the lungs of some healthy individuals are able to withstand repeated inflation to transpulmonary pressures far greater than those to which they would normally be exposed.
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