Chemical information matters: an e-Research perspective on information and data sharing in the chemical sciences.

Recently, a number of organisations have called for open access to scientific information and especially to the data obtained from publicly funded research, among which the Royal Society report and the European Commission press release are particularly notable. It has long been accepted that building research on the foundations laid by other scientists is both effective and efficient. Regrettably, some disciplines, chemistry being one, have been slow to recognise the value of sharing and have thus been reluctant to curate their data and information in preparation for exchanging it.

Effects of oxytocin on behavioral and ERP measures of recognition memory for own-race and other-race faces in women and men.

Oxytocin has been shown to affect human social information processing including recognition memory for faces. Here we investigated the neural processes underlying the effect of oxytocin on memorizing own-race and other-race faces in men and women. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subject study, participants received either oxytocin or placebo before studying own-race and other-race faces.

The zebrafish reference genome sequence and its relationship to the human genome.

Zebrafish have become a popular organism for the study of vertebrate gene function. The virtually transparent embryos of this species, and the ability to accelerate genetic studies by gene knockdown or overexpression, have led to the widespread use of zebrafish in the detailed investigation of vertebrate gene function and increasingly, the study of human genetic disease. However, for effective modelling of human genetic disease it is important to understand the extent to which zebrafish genes and gene structures are related to orthologous human genes.

Denitrifying alphaproteobacteria from the Arabian Sea that express nosZ, the gene encoding nitrous oxide reductase, in oxic and suboxic waters.

Marine ecosystems are significant sources of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). A by-product of nitrification and an intermediate in the denitrification pathway, N2O is formed primarily in oxygen-deficient waters and sediments. We describe the isolation of a group of alphaproteobacteria from the suboxic waters of the Arabian Sea that are phylogenetically affiliated with Labrenzia spp.

HuD promotes BDNF expression in brain neurons via selective stabilization of the BDNF long 3'UTR mRNA.

Complex regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) governs its intricate functions in brain development and neuronal plasticity. Besides tight transcriptional control from multiple distinct promoters, alternative 3'end processing of the BDNF transcripts generates either a long or a short 3'untranslated region (3'UTR). Previous reports indicate that distinct RNA sequence in the BDNF 3'UTRs differentially regulates BDNF production in the brain to accommodate neuronal activity changes, conceivably through differential interactions with undefined trans-acting factors that regulate stability and translation of these BDNF mRNA isoforms.

Perforin forms transient pores on the target cell plasma membrane to facilitate rapid access of granzymes during killer cell attack.

Cytotoxic lymphocytes serve a key role in immune homeostasis by eliminating virus-infected and transformed target cells through the perforin-dependent delivery of proapoptotic granzymes. However, the mechanism of granzyme entry into cells remains unresolved. Using biochemical approaches combined with time-lapse microscopy of human primary cytotoxic lymphocytes engaging their respective targets, we defined the time course of perforin pore formation in the context of the physiological immune synapse.

The relationship between urban sprawl and coronary heart disease in women.

Studies have reported relationships between urban sprawl, physical activity, and obesity, but - to date - no studies have considered the relationship between sprawl and coronary heart disease (CHD) endpoints. In this analysis, we use longitudinal data on post-menopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Clinical Trial to analyze the relationship between metropolitan statistical area (MSA)-level urban compactness (the opposite of sprawl) and CHD endpoints including death, any CHD event, and myocardial infarction. Models control for individual and neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics.

In utero hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in canines: exploring the gestational age window of opportunity to maximize engraftment.

Objective: In utero hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (IUHSCT) is a promising therapy for a variety of congenital disorders. Our objective was to determine the optimal time in gestation for IUHSCT in a canine model.

Methods: IUHSCT was performed in day 31-50 (term 63) fetal canines with CD34+ cells isolated from paternal bone marrow at doses of 0.

Regulatory requirements for therapeutic proteins: the relationship between the conformation and biological activity of filgrastim.

Higher order structure, including conformation, is considered a critical quality parameter of therapeutic proteins, and is mandatory information in development of first use and bio-similar therapeutic protein drugs, the assumption being that the biological activity of a protein is directly dependent on its adoption of a 'correct' conformation. Studies on the relationship between conformation and activity depend on the ability to induce conformational changes in proteins, and conventional approaches such as thermal or chemical denaturation are incompatible with bioactivity measurements. To explore the relationship between bio-activity and conformational studies, we have studied variants of the therapeutic protein filgrastim (rec met huGCSF) which have been mutated by the replacement of helical alanine residues with glycine, to destabilise the conformation of the molecule.

Role of HuD in nervous system function and pathology.

Hu proteins are a family of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that are homologs of Drosophila ELAV, a protein required for nervous system development. Three of these proteins (HuB, HuC, and HuD) are primarily expressed in neurons. The fourth member, HuR is ubiquitously expressed in all tissues.

Transcriptionally active heterotrophic diazotrophs are widespread in the upper water column of the Arabian Sea.

Pelagic nitrogen fixation makes an important contribution to the fixed nitrogen budget of the world's oceans. Filamentous and unicellular cyanobacteria are significant players in this process but less is known of the potential activity of heterotrophic diazotrophs, although they are present and can be quite numerous in the nitrogen-deplete surface waters of the tropical and sub-tropical oceans. In this study we focused on the potential activity of several clades of heterotrophic nitrogen-fixers identified by phylogenetic analysis of 44 non-Trichodesmium-related, nifH (encoding the Fe-subunit of nitrogenase) clones from the Arabian Sea.

Detection of neutralizing antibodies to erythropoietin by inhibition of rHuEPO-stimulated EGR1 gene expression in the UT-7/EPO cell line.

Recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is used extensively to treat anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease. However, the development of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to rHuEPO can result in the development of antibody-mediated pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). The detection of NAb in patient sera by in vitro bioassay relies on the inhibition of a cellular response to rHuEPO.

Neighborhood socioeconomic status and coronary heart disease risk prediction in a nationally representative sample.

Objectives: Test the association between coronary heart disease (CHD) risk scores and neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) in a US nationally-representative sample and describe whether the association varies by gender and race/ethnicity.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: We use Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2004 linked with Census tract data.

Determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in incidence of diabetes in postmenopausal women in the U.S.: The Women's Health Initiative 1993-2009.

Objective: To examine determinants of racial/ethnic differences in diabetes incidence among postmenopausal women participating in the Women's Health Initiative.

Research Design And Methods: Data on race/ethnicity, baseline diabetes prevalence, and incident diabetes were obtained from 158,833 women recruited from 1993-1998 and followed through August 2009. The relationship between race/ethnicity, other potential risk factors, and the risk of incident diabetes was estimated using Cox proportional hazards models from which hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were computed.

Serpinb9 (Spi6)-deficient mice are impaired in dendritic cell-mediated antigen cross-presentation.

Serpinb9 (Sb9, also called Spi6) is an intracellular inhibitor of granzyme B (GrB) that protects activated cytotoxic lymphocytes from apoptosis. We show here that the CD8(+) subset of splenic dendritic cells (DC), specialized in major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) presentation of exogenous antigens (cross-presentation), produce high levels of Sb9. Mice deficient in Sb9 are unable to generate a cytotoxic T-cell response against cell-associated antigen by cross-presentation, but maintain normal MHC-II presentation to helper T cells.

Effect of AT1 receptor blockade on intermittent hypoxia-induced endothelial dysfunction.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) raises arterial pressure, impairs vasodilator responsiveness, and increases circulating angiotensin II (Ang II); however, the role of Ang II in CIH-induced vascular dysfunction is unknown. Rats were exposed to CIH or room air (NORM), and a subset of these animals was treated with losartan (Los) during the exposure period. After 28 days, vasodilatory responses to acetylcholine or nitroprusside were measured in isolated gracilis arteries.

From parent to gamete: vertical transmission of Symbiodinium (Dinophyceae) ITS2 sequence assemblages in the reef building coral Montipora capitata.

Parental effects are ubiquitous in nature and in many organisms play a particularly critical role in the transfer of symbionts across generations; however, their influence and relative importance in the marine environment has rarely been considered. Coral reefs are biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystems, whose success is framed by symbiosis between reef-building corals and unicellular dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium. Many corals produce aposymbiotic larvae that are infected by Symbiodinium from the environment (horizontal transmission), which allows for the acquisition of new endosymbionts (different from their parents) each generation.

Web-based services for drug design and discovery.

Introduction: Reviews of the development of drug discovery through the 20(th) century recognised the importance of chemistry and increasingly bioinformatics, but had relatively little to say about the importance of computing and networked computing in particular. However, the design and discovery of new drugs is arguably the most significant single application of bioinformatics and cheminformatics to have benefitted from the increases in the range and power of the computational techniques since the emergence of the World Wide Web, commonly now referred to as simply 'the Web'. Web services have enabled researchers to access shared resources and to deploy standardized calculations in their search for new drugs.

The hippocampus and spatial constraints on mental imagery.

We review a model of imagery and memory retrieval based on allocentric spatial representation by place cells and boundary vector cells (BVCs) in the medial temporal lobe, and their translation into egocentric images in retrosplenial and parietal areas. In this model, the activity of place cells constrain the contents of imagery and retrieval to be coherent and consistent with the subject occupying a single location, while the activity of head-direction cells along Papez's circuit determine the viewpoint direction for which the egocentric image is generated. An extension of this model is discussed in which a role for grid cells in dynamic updating of representations (mental navigation) is included.

The 1st International standard for transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3).

One candidate preparation of human sequence recombinant transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) was formulated and lyophilized at NIBSC prior to evaluation in a collaborative study for its suitability to serve as an international standard. The preparation was tested by 8 laboratories using in vitro bioassays and immunoassays. The candidate preparation 09/234 was judged suitable to serve as an international standard based on the data obtained for biological activity and stability.

Oxytocin can impair memory for social and non-social visual objects: a within-subject investigation of oxytocin's effects on human memory.

Oxytocin is important to social behavior and emotion regulation in humans. Oxytocin's role derives in part from its effect on memory performance. More specifically, previous research suggests that oxytocin facilitates recognition of social (e.