bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Zwinglians and Adiaphorism
Authors: Verkamp Bernard J.
Published: April 2006

Of all the evils of the late medieval church, none was complained about quite so frequently by contemporary theologians as that which Pierre D'Ailly termed the “evil of superfluity.” Jan Hus compared the prelates of his own day to the scribes and pharisees of old, who imposed many fasts, many prayers and other hard things upon the people while they themselves did none of them. A man of Adam's ststure had but one command fulfill and failed, Jean Gerson wrote at the start of the fifteenth century; how then is the Christian to escape, placed as he is among innumerable commands? If Augustine could complain about the Judaic condition of the church of his time, what, Gerson containud, would he have to say now! According to wessel Gansfort, the “forest if decrees and decretals” had become so dense that the Christian could scarcely find his way any longer to a study and knowledge of sacred Scripture.Even Gabriel Biel was forced to admit that the burden of Christian obedience had become heavier than the old Judaic yoke, if one took into accont the plethora of ecclesiastical laws and ceremonics.
Mary's Protestant Martyrs and Elizabeth's Catholic Traitors in the Age of Catholic Emancipation
Authors: Drabble John E.
Published: April 2006

Debates over the interpretation of the English Reformation often have followed from the wider controversies of the day. This was especially true in the years before Catholic Emancipation, when political tensions led Catholic, Anglican, and Whig historians to revive the many quarrels about the past. Of these disputes, the persecutions under Mary I and the alleged treason of Elizabethan Catholics seemed most relevant to the issue of Catholic freedom. From John Foxe had come the Anglican image of Catholic cruelty; from the statutes and official tracts of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, the obsessive fears of Catholic treason. John Foxe taught his generation that persecution and treason had been practiced by the papal antichrist since the fourteenth century. The apparent timelessness of Roman evil was given new support by the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and the Irish Massacres of 1641. Moreover, by culling quotations from church councils, papal decrees, and Catholic divines, seventeenth-century Anglican writers alleged that treason and cruelty flowed from the very principles of the Roman church. Since those same principles had been established as early as 1215 and never had been rescinded, the lesson was clear enough: the penal laws could not be ended until Rome changed. For the historians of the English Reformation, Mary's fires and Elizabeth's traitors would show not only what Rome had been but what it must always be.
Samuel D. Press: Teacher of the Niebuhrs
Authors: Chrystal William G.
Published: April 2006

At the 1937 Edinburgh World Conference on Faith and Order, Louis Goebel of the Evangelical and Reformed Church stood on a curb between sessions with a group of delegates. On the other side of the street a lone figure passed. “Look,’ one of the delegates said, “there goes the man who taught the Niebuhr brothers.” Goebel looked up and saw Samuel Press.
Physic and Metaphysic in Nineteenth-Century America: Medical Sectarians and Religious Healing
Authors: Albanese Catherine L.
Published: April 2006

Writing in the first issue of The Magnetic and Cold Water Guide in 1846, an unnamed editor hailed the virtues of the cold-water cure: “Instead of the dosing and drugging of the old system of practice, it proposes to rely on the indwelling healing power of nature alone, to provoke and regulate which, it employs the widespread element of fresh unadulterated water.” In case readers had not caught the full dimensions of the message, the writer inserted “the testimony of an experienced physician of Massilon, Ohio.” The doctor, an A. Underhill, waxed eloquent on his investigations of “the Water Treatment of disease” and worked his way to a concluding rhetorical flourish. “Physiology, Phrenology, and Magnetism,” he summarized, “are the keys that are unlocking the great mysteries of nature and mind, and letting us in, as it were, to the inner temple, where the sunbeams of light and truth are filling the minds and understandings of all the truly devout worshippers of the Eternal principles which govern all things.”
The Earliest Spanish Christian Views of Islam
Authors: Wolf Kenneth Baxter
Published: April 2006

Twenty-five years ago, in the first of three now well-known lectures, R. W. Southern noted the “extremely slow penetration of Islam as an intellectually identifiable fact in Western minds.” Southern attributed this delay to the distance that separated Latin Christians from the Muslims. In the case of the northern Europeans, this distance was physical. After Poitiers, the military threat posed by Islam receded and assumed its place as only one among many peripheral challenges to the authority of the Carolingians and their successors. For the Christians of Spain, who lived within the boundaries of Islam, the distance was psychological. Out of their fear of cultural absorption, they closed their minds to the new religion and reacted with hostility against it. As a result, according to Southern, the first generations of Latin ecclesiastics who were in a position to assess Islam either did not bother to comprehend it or did so using only the most distorted information available, depending on which side of the Pyrenees they lived on.
Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and Science
Authors: Lindberg David C. , Numbers Ronald L.
Published: April 2006

On a December evening in 1869, with memories of civil war still fresh in their minds, a large audience gathered in the great hall of Cooper Union in New York City to hear about another conflict, still taking its toll—“with battles fiercer, with sieges more persistent, with strategy more vigorous than in any of the comparatively petty warfares of Alexander, or Caesar, or Napoleon.” Although waged with pens rather than swords, and for minds rather than empires, this war, too had destroyed lives and reputations. The combatants? Science and Religion.
The American Context as an Area for Research in Black Church Studies
Authors: Hudson Winthrop S.
Published: April 2006

A striking feature of religious life in the United States has been the strength and vitality of the black churches. How is the distinctive character of these churches, as well as their strength and vitality, to be explained and understood?
Sacrifice as Education in Augustine and Chrysostom
Authors: Benin Stephen D.
Published: April 2006

Aseruditi et erudientiwho had profited richly from pagan and Christian learning, Augustine and Chrysostom appreciated the power and influence of teachers and of pedagogical techniques. Both viewed God as the teacher, and both were captivated by the divine method of instruction. They saw this method as one of divine accommodation; that is, the Lord adapted his lessons and plan to human capacities. Augustine's and Chrysostom's works are replete with references to, and discussions of, divine accommodation; it is a common aspect of their thought which fits neatly and prominently into a lengthy and vibrant exegetical tradition.
Jonathan Edward's Most Popular Work: “The Life of David Brainerd” and Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Culture
Authors: Conforti Joseph
Published: April 2006

When students of early American religion remember David Brainerd, if they remember him at all, it is usually in the context of the First Great Awakening. Born in Haddam, Connecticut in 1718, Brainerd enrolled at Yale in 1739, shortly after he had experienced conversion. By his sophomore year, when New Haven was aflame with the religious fervor that spread like a brush fire through New England, Brainerd was recognized as one of the “New Light” student leaders at Yale. For this reason, he was among the first undergraduates to be disciplined by the college administration as part of an effort to contain religious enthusiasm. Rector Thomas Clap expelled Brainerd in 1742 for remarking that tutor Chauncy Whittelsey had no more grace than a chair and for attending a meeting of Separate Congregationalists in defiance of college rules.
Norwegian Immigrants Respond to the Common School: A Case Study of American Values and the Lutheran Tradition
Authors: Hamre James S.
Published: April 2006

In his book, A Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities, Robert T. Handy stresses “the important role that the idea of civilization has played in the evangelical Protestant denominations that together made up the dominant religious subculture of nineteeth-century America.” Handy contends that the English-speaking evangelical Protestant denominations—he includes the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Disciples of Christ, United Brethren, and the evangelical wing in the Protestant Episcopal Church—thought of themselves as making up the “religious mainstream of the nation” and were motivated by the vision of a Christian America. They saw it as their task to work for the creation of a nation based on Christian principles, and they sought to utilize a number of institutions, voluntary organizations, and techniques to achieve that goal.
The Holy Spirit Speaks Dutch: David Joris and the Promotion of the Dutch Language, 1538–1545
Authors: Waite Gary K.
Published: April 2006

The attempt to create a purified Dutch language and establish a Dutch cultural and linguistic identity distinct from Germanic variants became a major preoccupation of late sixteenth and seventeenth-century Netherlanders. Overcoming variations in regional dialects between the central province of Holland and the northern, eastern, and southern provinces and constructing a standard unitary language for inhabitants of the Low Countries was to occupy Dutch writers for several generations. Clearly the development of a national vernacular was essential in the process of achieving cultural and political independence from the Spanish overlords during the Eighty Years War.
Protestant Press Relations in the United States, 1900–1930
Authors: Ferré John P.
Published: April 2006

Protestant churches in the early twentieth century were vexed by dwindling attendance, a clear sign of their declining social authority. The Reverend William C. Skeath complained about “the masses of the passively religious who have closed their ears to the sermon subject and their doors to pastoral visitation.” Likewise, inHow to Fill the Pews, Ernest Eugene Elliott said that because no more than two-fifths of church members went to church on any given Sunday, the church had ceased to be the chief forum in American public life.
The Journey Up and Down: Pythagoras in Two Greek Apologists
Authors: Thom Johan C.
Published: April 2006

One of the major goals of the early Christian apologists was to demonstrate the cultural acceptability of Christianity. In order to achieve this goal, a number of them (notably Justin, Tatian, Athenagoras, and Theophilus of Antioch) drew comparisons between doctrines of the Greek philosophical tradition and those of Christianity, usually demonstrating the uniqueness and superiority of the latter. They thus unwittingly preserved for us doxographical data concerning Greek philosophers, some of which is to be found nowhere else. When we meet with such a doxographical hapax legomenon, we are faced with the problem of its reliability, since we lack comparative data. Does the author in question give a reliable version of the tradition, or does he misrepresent it because of his own inadequate understanding of the material?
The Women of the ABCFM Oregon Mission and the Conflicted Language of Calvinism
Authors: McCoy Genevieve
Published: April 2006

Among the books Oregon missionaries Elkanah and Mary Walker kept in their mission home at Tshimakain was a Bible in which was written a quotation attributed to Martin Luther: “Men are never more unfit for the sacrament, than when they think themselves most fit—and never more fit and prepared for duty than when most humbld ‘sic’ and ashamed in a sense of their own unfitness.” Fitness founded in unfitness, ability based on inability, and autonomy grounded in dependence were qualities that the Walker' sponsor, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), encouraged in its emissaries. The country's first foreign missionary program was established in 1810 by a small group of New Divinity ministers. Dominating the rural pulpits in New England and New York during the Second Great Awakening, New Divinity preachers aimed to legitimate their conception of revival and conversion by appealing to the earlier revival theology of Jonathan Edwards. In the process, they insisted that predestination and free grace did not violate human free will and moral responsibility. Based on these convictions antebellum ABCFM missionaries, including the Oregon group, learned to assess their own spiritual condition and calling. However, the internal conflicts prompted by New Divinity understandings of the conversion experience alternatively produced debilitating and vitalizing effects that continued to trouble these women and men throughout their missionary careers. In effect, the vocation of the missionaries of the Whitman-Spalding mission proceeded from an uncommonly heroic effort to achieve a salvation that could not be guaranteed by their own theology. Moreover, contemporary clashing views regarding the nature and social role of women became intertwined with this disabling discourse. This, in turn, limited the Oregon women's conception of themselves and their capacities as missionaries.
Catholic Colleges, the Courts, and the Constitution: A Tale of Two Cases
Authors: Preville Joseph Richard
Published: April 2006

Of the forces that have shaped contemporary American Catholic higher education, few have been more generative or influential than the proceedings of two court cases which tested the constitutionality of direct government aid to sectarian and church-related colleges and universities. These two court cases were Horace Mann League v. Board of Public Works (1966) and Tilton v. Richardson (1971). The impact of these judicial rulings over the radical transformation and substantive reform of American Catholic higher education during the past quarter of a century is the subject of this article.
Revivals and Revolution: Historiographic Turns since Alan Heimert'sReligion and the American Mind
Authors: Goff Philip
Published: April 2006

Thirty years ago Alan Heimert published his monumental study of religion's relationship to the American Revolution.Religion and the American Mind: From the Great Awakening to the Revolutioncontradicted the conventional wisdom rooted in Vernon Parrington's 1927Main Currents of American Thoughtand implicitly challenged the more recent interpretation put forward by Heimert's own mentor, Perry Miller. Critics responded vigorously, but their reproofs did not foretell the future of Heimert's argument. Indeed, in the past twenty years a cadreof young scholars assumed either his thesis or method and moved the debate toward the personalities and movements Heimert underscored. Some of today's leading scholars who study connections between the revivals and the Revolution pay homage to Heimert's thought in footnotes if not in the texts themselves. Two social/intellectual movements seemingly at cross-purposes, namely Protestant evangelicalism and the new cultural history, rescued Heimert's work from scathing yet well-placed criticisms to establish its assertions as a leading model for understanding religion's role in the American Revolution.
The Shifting Tones of Pope Leo the Great's Christological Vocabulary
Authors: Barclift Philip L.
Published: April 2006

Over the past several decades Leonine studies have focused attention on Pope Leo the Great's Christology, noting the influence his Tomus ad Flavianum had at the Council of Chalcedon. In fact, because of this strong influence twentieth-century scholars have studied the Tome nearly exclusively in order to identify the heart of Leo's Christology. There can be no question, of course, that the Tome should be consulted in order to understand Leo's Christology, but it marks only one phase in the ongoing development of the ways he chose to express his christological insights. In part the Tome itself precipitated this development insofar as it opened up his Christology to scrutiny in the East. The tone of Leo's insights and the language he used to express them shifted and acquired greater precision over time in his letters and sermons in direct response to the dynamics of the christological controversy in the East, of which Leo's Tome made him a part. This development is most evident in three areas: his avoidance of the “Mother of God” title for the Virgin Mary after initially using it early in his pontificate; his use of the terms homo and humanus, which Leo learned to distinguish later in his pontificate; and his adoption of the Antiochene homo assumptus formula late in his pontificate to emphasize the fullness of Christ's human nature. These phenomena reflect the pope's careful attempt to distance himself from the rising tide of the Monophysite movement in the East, as he began to channel his traditional, Western Christology more through formulae used by Antiochene theologians. These phenomena can only be observed through careful, chronological analysis of the broader corpus of Pope Leo's works.
French Politics and Alfred Loisy's Modernism
Authors: Hill Harvey
Published: April 2006

The first decade of the twentieth century was a time of great theological ferment in the Catholic church in France. In order to reconcile Catholic teaching with the latest findings of historical criticism, Alfred Loisy (1857–1940) and other “modernists” proposed sweeping reforms in the Church. From the perspective of Rome, however, these reforms seemed to threaten the very heart of the faith. In Roman eyes, Loisy and his theological allies had adopted the scientific methods of the anticlerical university. Like their secular colleagues but less openly, they then used these methods to subvert the Catholic tradition and the institutional structure of the church. The Vatican defended its embattled faith with a series of measures designed to crush this movement.
Thermal and XPS studies on polyaniline salts prepared by inverted emulsion polymerization
Authors: Sreedhar B. , Sairam M. , Chattopadhyay D. K. , Mitra Pragnya Paromita , Rao D. V. Mohan
Published: April 2006

Conductive polyaniline salts were synthesized by inverted emulsion polymerization method and were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermogravimetry‐mass (TGA‐MS) analysis, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The various characteristic fragments evolved during the thermal degradation of polyaniline were identified. The weight loss of dopants as well as sodium lauryl sulfate decomposition were identified at different temperatures from TGA‐MS analysis. The kinetic analysis of the thermal decomposition processes of polyaniline in doped state was performed. Broido, Chang, and Friedman methods were used for the evaluation of kinetic parameters in nitrogen atmosphere. High resolution XPS analysis was used to provide a method of differentiating the presence of nitrogen and carbon associated in the different environments in the polyaniline base and doped‐samples. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 499–508, 2006
Wood flour: New filler for the rubber processing industry. IV. Cure characteristics and mechanical properties of natural rubber compounds filled by non‐modified or corona treated wood flour
Authors: Vladkova T. G. , Dineff P. D. , Gospodinova D. N. , Avramova I.
Published: April 2006

It is presented here how some cure characteristics and mechanical properties of rubber compounds based on nonpolar rubber, natural rubber (NR), are affected by filling with conifer wood flour, both nonmodified or corona treated in air or in ammonia. The corona treatment was performed at room temperature and varied both: treatment duration and voltage to find out the maximal reinforcing effect of the modified wood flour. The discharge voltage was varied at 10, 12, and 15 kV to include both (1) the range of relative low voltages (lower than 10 ÷ 12 kV in which the major active species arise from ionized and activated air oxygen and (2) the range of relative high voltages (12 kV and higher) in which the active species arise from simultaneously ionized and activated air oxygen and nitrogen. The chemical composition of the nonmodified and corona‐treated wood surface was controlled by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The activity of the modified wood flour was evaluated by comparative measurement of some basic mechanical parameters of rubber compounds, filled at equal level by nonmodified or plasma‐treated wood flour. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 651–658, 2006
Factors defining the selectivity polymer membranes: A fractal model
Authors: Kozlov G. V. , Dolbin I. V. , Zaikov G. E.
Published: April 2006

It is shown that the selectivity of the polymer nonporous membranes by the diffusivity depends on the polymer structure by rather complex way. The most important characteristic in this case is the dimension Dt controlling the gas transport processes and the molecular mobility degree influences only at large enough values of diameter of the selected gas molecules, the difference of these diameters and the dimension Dt. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 331–333, 2006
Effects of nanoscale hydroxypropyl lignin on properties of soy protein plastics
Authors: Chen Pu , Zhang Lina , Peng Shuping , Liao Bing
Published: April 2006

For the first time, soy protein isolate (SPI)/hydroxypropyl alkaline lignin (HPL) composites have been successfully prepared by mixing them in aqueous solution containing a small amount of glutaraldehyde as compatibilizer, and then compression‐molded to obtain plastic sheets. The structures of the SPI/HPL composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, indicating the existence of amorphous networks and nanoscale HPL dispersion in the SPI matrix. When HPL content was lower than 6 wt %, the HPL‐domain occurred in SPI/HPL composites with a dimension of about 50 nm, indicating a high interfacial activity. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the glass transition temperature of the SPI/HPL sheets increased from 62.5 to 70.4°C with an increase of HPL content from 0 to 6 wt %. Moreover, the tensile strength of the SPI/HPL nanocomposite sheets with 6 wt % HPL and 3.3 wt % glutaraldehyde was enhanced from 8.4 to 23.1 MPa compared with that of the SPI sheets, suggesting that the nanoscale HPL dispersion significantly reinforced the SPI materials. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 334–341, 2006
Health insurance coverage and cost barriers to needed medical care among U.S. adult cancer survivors age <65 years
Authors: Sabatino Susan A. , Coates Ralph J. , Uhler Robert J. , Alley Linda G. , Pollack Lori A.
Published: April 2006

BACKGROUND

The health insurance and cost barriers to care among cancer survivors age <65 years were examined.

METHODS

Using the 1998 and 2000 National Health Interview Survey, survivors ages 18 to 64 years (n = 1718) were compared with similarly aged adults without cancer (n = 50,276) to examine health insurance and reported delayed/missed needed medical care within the previous year because of cost. Findings were initially adjusted for age, sex, race, and ethnicity, and further adjusted for employment, income, health status, marital status, and region.

RESULTS

Before adjustment, survivors were less likely to be uninsured (12.4% vs. 18.0%) and more likely to have public insurance (11.2% vs. 6.2%). After initial adjustment, survivors were as likely to lack insurance, less likely to have private insurance, and more likely to have public insurance. After further adjusting, differences in being uninsured were found to be small, differences in having private insurance were eliminated, and differences in having public insurance were reduced. Survivors most likely to lack insurance were younger, female, African‐American, or lower income. Survivors, particularly uninsured or publicly insured survivors, were more likely to delay/miss care because of cost. Overall, 20.9% of survivors, including 68% of uninsured survivors, reported delaying/missing needed care.

CONCLUSIONS

Health insurance coverage among cancer survivors age <65 years appears to be comparable to that of adults of similar age, sex, race, and ethnicity, but survivors may more likely be publicly insured. Differences are attributable in part to employment, income, and health status, factors potentially influenced by cancer. Unmet medical care needs because of cost were common among survivors, particularly uninsured survivors. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Randomized trial of high‐dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell support for high‐risk primary breast carcinoma
Authors: Hanrahan Emer O. , Broglio Kristine , Frye Deborah , Buzdar Aman U. , Theriault Richard L. , Valero Vicente , Booser Daniel J. , Singletary Sonja E. , Strom Eric A. , Gajewski James L. , Champlin Richard E. , Hortobagyi Gabriel N.
Published: April 2006

BACKGROUND

The authors previously reported results from a randomized trial of standard‐dose chemotherapy with combined 5‐fluorouracil (1000 mg/m2 per cycle), doxorubicin (50 mg/m2 per cycle), and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2 per cycle) (FAC) versus FAC followed by high‐dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous stem cell support (ASCS) for patients with high‐risk primary breast carcinoma. After a median follow‐up of 6.5 years, no significant differences were observed in recurrence‐free survival (RFS) or overall survival (OS) between the 2 arms. This report updates the survival analyses.

METHODS

Patients with ≥10 positive axillary lymph nodes after primary surgery or ≥4 positive lymph nodes at surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were eligible. All patients were to receive 8 cycles of FAC. Patients were assigned randomly to receive either no further chemotherapy or 2 cycles of combined high‐dose cyclophosphamide (5250 mg/m2 per cycle), etoposide (1200 mg/m2 per cycle), and cisplatin (165 mg/m2 per cycle) with ASCS. Primary endpoints were RFS and OS. RFS and OS were calculated by using the Kaplan–Meier method. The log‐rank statistic was used to compare treatment arms.

RESULTS

Between 1990 and 1997, 78 patients were registered, and 39 patients were assigned randomly to each arm. The median follow‐up for all patients who were alive at last follow‐up was 142.5 months (range, 45‐169 months). An intention‐to‐treat analysis showed no significant difference between the 2 arms in terms of RFS (at 10 years: 40% with FAC vs. 26% with FAC plus HDCT; P = .11) or OS (at 10 years: 47% with FAC vs. 42% with FAC plus HDCT; P = .13).

CONCLUSIONS

With a median follow‐up of nearly 12 years for patients who remained alive, this trial continued to demonstrate no RFS or OS advantage for patients with high‐risk primary breast carcinoma treated with HDCT after standard‐dose FAC chemotherapy. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Generalizability of cancer clinical trial results
Authors: Elting Linda S. , Cooksley Catherine , Bekele B. Nebiyou , Frumovitz Michael , Avritscher Elenir B. C. , Sun Charlotte , Bodurka Diane C.
Published: April 2006

BACKGROUND

The generalizability of clinical trial results is questionable, because fewer than 5% of cancer patients participate. The authors examined the comparability of clinical trial participants and nonparticipants and the potential impact of differences.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort of 19,340 cancer patients who were diagnosed between January 1990 and December 1997 was characterized by trial participation. The distributions of prognostically important factors among trial participants were compared with the distributions among nonparticipants and the population of patients diagnosed during the same period in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results population. The impact of these factors on survival was examined by using a Cox proportional hazards analysis.

RESULTS

Trial participants were younger and had better performance status and fewer comorbid conditions compared with nonparticipants. However, participants were more likely to have locally advanced disease, positive lymph node status, poorly differentiated tumors, liver metastases, and multiple metastatic sites. The former factors were associated with significantly longer survival, whereas the later factors were associated with significantly shorter survival.

CONCLUSIONS

The lack of comparability between trial participants and nonparticipants called into question the generalizability of clinical trial results. Although selective recruitment for clinical trials is justified, the authors encourage the use of population‐based trials of effectiveness in “all comers.” Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
The sulfone syndrome secondary to dapsone prophylaxis in a patient undergoing unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Abidi Muneer H. , Kozlowski Jennifer R. , Ibrahim Rami B. , Peres Edward
Published: April 2006

Dapsone is commonly used for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis in immunocompromised patients. It has been used as an alternative therapy in the hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) setting in patients who can't tolerate trimethoprim‐sulfamethoxazole. The Sulfone syndrome is not a well‐known sequela of dapsone therapy and occurs at various doses, ranging from 50–300 mg/d. In all cases the syndrome occurs within 2 months of initiating therapy. Its clinical manifestations include: fever, methemoglobinemia, hemolytic anemia, exfoliative dermatitis and transaminits. A 51‐year old female underwent a matched unrelated hematopoiectic stem cell transplant for acute mylogenous leukemia. Dapsone therapy was initiated on day + 28 at a dose of 100 mg/day for PCP prophylaxis secondary to the patient's history of a sulfonamide allergy. On day  + 59, one month after initiation of therapy she developed hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, fever and methemoglobinemia of 8%. She was transferred to the intensive care unit and subsequently developed an exfoliative dermatitis. We conclude that the clinical presentation of this patient after HSCT on dapsone therapy coincide with the sulfone syndrome not previously described in a patients after HSCT. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ab initio potential energy surface and predicted microwave spectra for ArOCS dimer and structures of ArnOCS (n = 2–14) clusters
Authors: Zhu Hua , Guo Yong , Xue Ying , Xie Daiqian
Published: April 2006

An ab initio potential energy surface for the Ar‐OCS dimer was calculated using the coupled‐cluster singles and doubles with noniterative inclusion of connected triples [CCSD(T)] with a large basis set containing bond functions. The interaction energies were obtained by the supermolecular approach with the full counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error. The CCSD(T) potential was found to have two minima corresponding to the T‐shaped and the collinear ArSCO structures. The two‐dimensional discrete variable representation method was employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels for five isotopomers ArOCS, ArOC34S, ArO13CS, Ar18OCS, and Ar17OCS. The calculated pure rotational transition frequencies for the vibrational ground state of the five isotopomers are in good agreement with the observed values. The corresponding microwave spectra show that the b‐type transitions (Δ Ka = ±1) are significantly stronger than the a‐type transitions (Δ Ka = 0). Minimum‐energy structures of the Ar2OCS trimer were been determined with MP2 optimization, whereas the minimum‐energy structures of the ArnOCS clusters with n = 3–14 were obtained with the pairwise additive potentials. It was found that there are two minima corresponding to one distorted tetrahedral structure and one planar structure for the ternary complex. The 14 nearest neighbor Ar atoms form the first solvation shell around the OCS molecule. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 27: 1045–1053, 2006
PTOV1: a novel testosterone‐induced atherogenic gene in human aorta
Authors: Nakamura Y , Suzuki T , Igarashi K , Kanno J , Furukawa T , Tazawa C , Fujishima F , Miura I , Ando T , Moriyama N , Moriya T , Saito H , Yamada S , Sasano H
Published: April 2006

There are gender differences in the development of atherosclerosis, possibly owing to differences in sex steroid hormone action and/or metabolism. One of the atherogenic effects of testosterone is thought to be androgen receptor (AR)‐mediated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. However, the detailed mechanism of this effect, particularly the identity of the genes associated with VSMC proliferation, remains largely unknown. Therefore, we first employed microarray analysis and, subsequently, quantitative RT‐PCR to analyse RNA expression in AR‐positive human VSMCs treated with testosterone in order to detect testosterone‐induced genes associated with cell proliferation. We further examined whether the genes identified were involved in cell proliferation using small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection. Expression of the gene products was then evaluated in human aorta with various degrees of atherosclerosis in order to evaluate the clinical relevance of the findings. Both microarray and quantitative RT‐PCR analyses demonstrated marked induction of the human prostate overexpressed protein 1 (PTOV1) gene by testosterone in the cell lines: this gene was recently identified as a novel androgen‐induced gene involved in prostate tumour cell proliferation. Inhibition of PTOV1 by transfection of its corresponding siRNA suppressed testosterone‐induced cell proliferation. In human aorta, PTOV1 immunoreactivity in the nuclei of neointimal VSMCs was abundantly detected in male aorta with mild atherosclerotic changes compared with female aorta or male aorta with severe atherosclerotic changes. These findings indicate that the PTOV1 gene is androgen‐responsive in VSMCs and that it may play an important role in androgen‐related atherogenesis in the human aorta, particularly early atherosclerosis in the male aorta, through regulating proliferation of neointimal VSMCs. Copyright © 2006 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nicht‐medikamentöse neurochirurgische Parkinson‐Therapie: Zunehmend wichtige Rolle in der Therapie
Authors: Herzog Jan , Volkmann Jens
Published: April 2006

Die pharmakologische Therapie des Morbus Parkinson hat in den vergangenen Jahren erstaunliche Fortschritte gemacht und zu einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität der Patienten geführt. Dennoch ist trotz Optimierung der pharmakologischen Therapie für einige Patienten die Verbesserung der Symptome nur unzureichend. Ferner führen die Medikamente selbst, v.a. das besonders wirksame Levodopa, zu einer Verschlechterung der Symptomatik mit Ausbildung eines so genannten Levodopa‐Langzeit‐Syndroms. Daher sind alternative nicht‐medikamentöse Therapieformen entwickelt worden, die diese Schwierigkeiten der medikamentösen Therapie zu umgehen versuchen. Die tiefe Hirnstimulation des Nucleus subthalamicus stellt derzeit die effektivste Methode dar und ist in vielen Zentren ein fester Bestandteil der Therapie geworden. Hingegen ist die Transplantation embryonalen Gewebes den Nachweis der Wirksamkeit schuldig geblieben. Andere Verfahren wie die Transplantation von Netzhautepithelzellen, die Applikation von Nervenwachstumsfaktoren oder gentherapeutische Ansätze befinden sich noch in der klinischen Erprobung.
Inaktivierung von Parkin bei der Parkinson‐Erkrankung
Authors: Winklhofer Konstanze F.
Published: April 2006

Mutationen im Parkin‐Gen sind verantwortlich für eine autosomal rezessiv vererbbare Form der Parkinson‐Erkrankung. Von der Aufklärung der Funktion von Parkin sowie der Mechanismen, die zum Funktionsverlust von Parkin führen, erhofft man sich Einblicke in Pathomechanismen der Degeneration dopaminerger Neuronen. Kürzlich wurde publiziert, dass Parkin durch ein Oxidationsprodukt des Neurotransmitters Dopamin kovalent modifiziert und dadurch inaktiviert werden kann, so dass Parkin möglicherweise auch bei der sporadischen Parkinson‐Erkrankung von pathophysiologischer Relevanz ist.
Kaffee gegen Morbus Parkinson?
Authors: Stark Holger
Published: April 2006

Zahlreiche Studien haben in pharmakoepidemiologischen Untersuchungen gezeigt, dass Kaffeetrinker ebenso wie Zigarettenraucher signifikant seltener an Morbus Parkinson erkranken. Während eindeutig klar ist, dass Tabakkonsum keine therapeutische Option darstellt, sieht es für das Kaffeetrinken gänzlich anders aus.
Reactions associated with ionization in water: A direct ab initio dynamics study of ionization in (H2O)17
Authors: Furuhama A. , Dupuis M. , Hirao K.
Published: April 2006

Quasiclassical ab initio simulations of the ionization dynamics in a (H2O)17 cluster, the first water cluster that includes a fourfold coordinated (internally solvated) water molecule, have been carried out to obtain a detailed picture of the elementary processes and energy redistribution induced by ionization in a model of aqueous water. General features observable from the simulations are the following: (i) well within 100fs following the ionization, one or more proton transfers are seen to take place from the “ionized molecule” to neighboring molecules and beyond, forming a hydronium ion and a hydroxyl radical; (ii) two water molecules close to the ionized water molecule play an important role in the reaction, in what we term a “reactive trimer.” The reaction time is gated by the encounter of the ionized water molecule with these two neighboring molecules, and this occurs anytime between 10 and 50fs after the ionization. The distances of approach between the ionized molecule and the neighboring molecules indeed display best the time characteristics of the transfer of a proton, and thus of the formation of a hydronium ion and a OH radical. These findings are consistent with those for smaller cyclic clusters, albeit the dynamics of the proton transfer displays more varieties in the larger cluster than in the small cyclic clusters. We used a partitioning scheme for the kinetic energy in the (H2O)17 system that distinguishes between the reactive trimer and the surrounding “medium.” The analysis of the simulations indicates that the kinetic energy of the surrounding medium increases markedly right after the event of ionization, a manifestation of the local heating of the medium. The increase in kinetic energy is consistent with a reorganization of the surrounding medium, electrostatically forced in a very short time by the water cation and in a longer time by the formation of the hydronium ion.
Atomic force probe for sidewall scanning of nano- and microstructures
Authors: Dai Gaoliang , Wolff Helmut , Pohlenz Frank , Danzebrink Hans-Ulrich , Wilkening Günter
Published: April 2006

An atomic force microscope (AFM) probe applicable for sidewall scanning has been developed. In its configuration, a horizontal AFM cantilever is microassembled with a vertical AFM cantilever. An AFM tip located at the free end of the vertical cantilever and extending horizontally is capable of probing in a direction perpendicular to sidewalls. The bending, torsion, or deformation of the horizontal cantilever is detected when the tip is brought into contact, intermittent contact, or noncontact with sidewalls. Measurement results taken at the sidewalls of microtrenches, microgears, and line edge roughness samples are presented.
Dual targeting of a single tRNA
Trp
requires two different tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases in
Trypanosoma brucei
Authors: Charrière Fabien , Helgadóttir Sunna , Horn Elke K. , Söll Dieter , Schneider André
Published: April 2006

The mitochondrion of
Trypanosoma brucei
does not encode any tRNAs. This deficiency is compensated for by the import of a small fraction of nearly all of its cytosolic tRNAs. Most trypanosomal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are encoded by single-copy genes, suggesting the use of the same enzyme in the cytosol and mitochondrion. However, the
T. brucei
genome contains two distinct genes for eukaryotic tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS). RNA interference analysis established that both TrpRS1 and TrpRS2 are essential for growth and required for cytosolic and mitochondrial tryptophanyl-tRNA formation, respectively. Decoding the mitochondrial tryptophan codon UGA requires mitochondria-specific C→U RNA editing in the anticodon of the imported tRNA
Trp
.
In vitro
charging assays with recombinant TrpRS enzymes demonstrated that the edited anticodon and the mitochondria-specific thiolation of U33 in the imported tRNA
Trp
act as antideterminants for the cytosolic TrpRS1. The existence of two TrpRS enzymes, therefore, can be explained by the need for a mitochondrial synthetase with extended substrate specificity to achieve aminoacylation of the imported thiolated and edited tRNA
Trp
. Thus, the notion that, in an organism, all nuclear-encoded tRNAs assigned to a given amino acid are charged by a single aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, is not universally valid.
How practice meets guidelines: Evaluation of nutrition counselling in Finnish well‐women and well‐baby clinics
Authors: Huurre Anu , Laitinen Kirsi , Hoppu Ulla , Isolauri Erika
Published: April 2006

Aim: To assess the current practices of nutrition counselling given by nurses in well‐women (WW) and well‐baby (WB) clinics in Finland. Design: A semi‐structured questionnaire was distributed to nurses and their clients in clinics nationwide. Main outcome measures: The source and the quality of nutrition counselling and specific conditions including allergic diseases and vitamin D supplementation. Results: The clinics constituted the most important source of information for the clients. Personal counselling was highly appreciated. However, 83% of pregnant women reported having received dietary counselling, which deviates from the figure reported by nurses (99%, p=0.0003). Counselling concerning allergies was targeted to reduce the risk of infant allergy by means of elimination diets. In contrast to the report of the nurses (60% in WW and 18% in WB clinics), only 16% (p<0.0001) of the pregnant and 7% (p=0.022) of the breastfeeding women reported that they had been advised to use vitamin D supplements during the winter season.

Conclusion: This study calls for co‐operation between scientists, governmental policy makers and healthcare professionals to ensure a continuous chain of information, applicable to nutrition counselling, from scientific data to everyday practice.
NOD.c3c4 congenic mice develop autoimmune biliary disease that serologically and pathogenetically models human primary biliary cirrhosis
Authors: Irie Junichiro , Wu Yuehong , Wicker Linda S. , Rainbow Daniel , Nalesnik Michael A. , Hirsch Raphael , Peterson Laurence B. , Leung Patrick S.C. , Cheng Chunmei , Mackay Ian R. , Gershwin M. Eric , Ridgway William M.
Published: April 2006

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease with a strong genetic component characterized by biliary ductular inflammation with eventual liver cirrhosis. The serologic hallmark of PBC is antimitochondrial antibodies that react with the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, targeting the inner lipoyl domain of the E2 subunit (anti–PDC-E2). Herein we demonstrate that NOD.c3c4 mice congenically derived from the nonobese diabetic strain develop an autoimmune biliary disease (ABD) that models human PBC. NOD.c3c4 (at 9–10 wk, before significant biliary pathology) develop antibodies to PDC-E2 that are specific for the inner lipoyl domain. Affected areas of biliary epithelium are infiltrated with CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells, and treatment of NOD.c3c4 mice with monoclonal antibody to CD3 protects from ABD. Furthermore, NOD.c3c4-scid mice develop disease after adoptive transfer of splenocytes or CD4+ T cells, demonstrating a central role for T cells in pathogenesis. Histological analysis reveals destructive cholangitis, granuloma formation, and eosinophilic infiltration as seen in PBC, although, unlike PBC, the extrahepatic biliary ducts are also affected. Using a congenic mapping approach, we define the first ABD (Abd) locus, Abd1. These results identify the NOD.c3c4 mouse as the first spontaneous mouse model of PBC.
Arthur Herbert Church FRS and the Palace of Westminster frescoes
Authors: Kurzer Frederick
Published: April 2006

In a long and distinguished career, A. H. Church FRS, professor of chemistry successively at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, contributed original work to a wide range of chemical topics. As a talented painter he became an expert in the chemistry of paints and painting and was the obvious person, in 1894, to be entrusted with the conservation of the important frescoes in the Palace of Westminster, which had deteriorated with the passage of time and suffered severely in the unfavourable atmospheric conditions of Victorian London. Church identified airborne sulphuric acid as the chief destructive agent, and succeeded in halting further decay of the murals by judicious procedures, some of them of his own devising, and ensured at a critical juncture the eventual survival of these threatened art treasures. Church's 12 years’ activities in this area, being published exclusively as Parliamentary Papers, remained largely unknown except to the officials and Commissions directly concerned with the problem, but as a significant achievement in his life's work they merit due attention and credit.
Validation of a new automated method for analysis of gated‐SPECT images
Authors: Lomsky Milan , Richter Jens , Johansson Lena , Høilund‐Carlsen Poul F. , Edenbrandt Lars
Published: April 2006

We recently presented a new method for quantification of CArdiac FUnction – denoted CAFU – as the first step in the development of an automated method for integrated interpretation of gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images. The aim of this study was to validate CAFU in the assessment of global and regional function of the left ventricle. Quantitative gated‐SPECT (QGS), the most widely used software package for quantification of gated‐SPECT images, was used as reference method for the measurements of ejection fraction (EF) and ventricular volumes, and visual analysis by an experienced physician was used as reference method for the measurements of regional wall motion and thickening. Two different groups of consecutive patients referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy were studied. Global function was evaluated in 316 patients and regional function in 49 other patients. The studies were performed using a 2‐day stress/rest 99 m‐Tc‐sestamibi protocol. A good correlation was found between EF values from QGS and CAFU (EF CAFU = 0·84 EF QGS + 13, r = 0·94), but CAFU values were on average 4 EF points higher than QGS values. With CAFU the segments with normal thickening according to the physician showed significantly higher thickening values (in all parts of the myocardium) compared to the segments classified as having abnormal thickening. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that CAFU can be used to quantify global and regional function in gated‐SPECT images. This is an important step in our development of an automated method for integrated interpretation of gated‐SPECT myocardial perfusion scintigraphy studies.