bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Re‐inscribing Gender in New Modes of Medical Expertise: The Investigator–Coordinator Relationship in the Clinical Trials Industry
Authors: Fisher Jill A.
Published: June 2009

This article analyses the ways in which research coordinators forge professional identities in the highly gendered organizational context of the clinic. Drawing upon qualitative research on the organization of the clinical trials industry (that is, the private sector, for profit auxiliary companies that support pharmaceutical drug studies), this article explores the relationships between predominantly male physician‐investigators and female research coordinators and the constitution of medical expertise in pharmaceutical drug development. One finding is that coordinators actively seek to establish relationships with investigators that mirror traditional doctor–nurse relationships, in which the feminized role is subordinated and devalued. Another finding is that the coordinators do, in fact, have profound research expertise that is frequently greater than that of the investigators. The coordinators develop expertise on pharmaceutical products and diseases through their observations of the patterns that occur in patient–participants' responses to investigational drugs. The article argues, however, that the nature of the relationships between coordinators and investigators renders invisible the coordinators' expertise. In this context, gender acts as a persistent social structure shaping both coordinators' and investigators' perceptions of who can be recognized as having authority and power in the workplace.
Oral manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease: a review based on the observation of six cases
Authors: Lourenço SV , Hussein TP , Bologna SB , Sipahi AM , Nico MMS
Published: June 2009

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises two chronic, tissue‐destructive, clinical entities: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), both immunologically based. Bowel symptoms are predominant, but extra‐intestinal complications may occur, including involvement of the oral cavity. Oral involvement during IBD includes several types of lesions: the most common are aphthae; uncommon lesions include, among others, pyostomatitis vegetans and granulomatous lesions of CD. Starting with a presentation of six patients with oral manifestations, which were crucial for the final diagnosis of IBD, a review on the subject is presented. Oral involvement in IBD may be previous or simultaneous to the gastrointestinal symptoms. However, in the majority of cases, bowel disease precedes the onset of oral lesions by months or years. In many patients, the intestinal symptoms may be minimal and can go undetected; thus, most authors believe that the bowel must be thoroughly examined in all patients with suspected IBD even in the absence of specific symptoms. Usually, the clinical course of oral lesions is parallel to the activity of IBD; therefore, oral manifestations are a good cutaneous marker of IBD.
Expression of human neutrophil proteins in acne vulgaris
Authors: Adışen E , Yüksek J , Erdem O , Aksakal FN , Aksakal AB
Published: June 2009

Background  In acne vulgaris patients, the presence of a dysregulation of the production of innate and specific antimicrobial peptides has been postulated.

Objective  This study aims to determine whether human neutrophil proteins (HNP) 1–3 are expressed in acne patients.

Materials and methods  HNP 1–3 expression was investigated in 35 acne patients treated with isotretinoin and in 25 healthy subjects. At the beginning of the study, two skin biopsies were taken from acne patients; one biopsy was taken from an established pustule and one from uninvolved skin, and the biopsies were repeated after treatment. Only one biopsy was obtained from controls.

Results  The statistical analysis showed that pustular lesions of acne patients had significantly higher levels of perivascular and interstitial HNP 1–3 expression when compared with the biopsy of uninvolved skin of these patients (P = 0.003, P = 0.001, respectively) and with that of healthy controls (P = 0.007, P = 0.014, respectively). Isotretinoin treatment achieved a decrease in the perivascular and interstitial HNP 1–3 expression of pustular lesions (P = 0.01, P = 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion  Our current study demonstrates the novel observation that a recently identified antimicrobial peptide, HNP 1–3, is expressed in neutrophils of acne inflammation but not in uninvolved skin of these patients. These results suggest that HNP 1–3 may contribute to the development of inflammatory lesions of acne.
The movement of African elephants in a human‐dominated land‐use mosaic
Authors: Graham M. D. , Douglas‐Hamilton I. , Adams W. M. , Lee P. C.
Published: June 2009

Land outside of gazetted protected areas is increasingly seen as important to the future of elephant persistence in Africa. However, other than inferential studies on crop raiding, very little is understood about how elephantsLoxodonta africanause and are affected by human‐occupied landscapes. This is largely a result of restrictions in technology, which made detailed assessments of elephant movement outside of protected areas challenging. Recent advances in radio telemetry have changed this, enabling researchers to establish over a 24‐h period where tagged animals spend their time. We assessed the movement of 13 elephants outside of gazetted protected areas across a range of land‐use types on the Laikipia plateau in north‐central Kenya. The elephants monitored spent more time at night than during the day in areas under land use that presented a risk of mortality associated with human occupants. The opposite pattern was found on large‐scale ranches where elephants were tolerated. Furthermore, speed of movement was found to be higher where elephants were at risk. These results demonstrate that elephants facultatively alter their behaviour to avoid risk in human‐dominated landscapes. This helps them to maintain connectivity between habitat refugia in fragmented land‐use mosaics, possibly alleviating some of the potential negative impacts of fragmentation. At the same time, however, it allows elephants to penetrate smallholder farmland to raid crops. The greater the amount of smallholder land within an elephant's range, the more it was utilized, with consequent implications for conflict. These findings underscore the importance of (1) land‐use planning to maintain refugia; (2) incentives to prevent further habitat fragmentation; (3) the testing and application of conflict mitigation measures where fragmentation has already taken place.
Vascular dysfunction in the diabetic placenta: causes and consequences
Authors: Leach Lopa , Taylor Alice , Sciota Flavia
Published: June 2009

The development and functioning of the human fetoplacental vascular system are vulnerable to the maternal diabetic milieu. These vessels are in direct continuum with the fetal vascular system and are therefore also vulnerable to fetal endocrine derangements. Increased angiogenesis, altered junctional maturity and molecular occupancy, together with increased leakiness, constitute a well‐described phenotype of vessels in the Type 1 diabetic human placenta and can be related to increased levels of placental vascular endothelial growth factor. The causes of these observed changes, whether maternal hyperglycaemia or fetal hyperinsulinaemia, still remain to be shown in the human placenta. Mechanistic studies using different vascular systems have shown high glucose and insulin to have profound vascular effects, with elevations in vascular endothelial growth factor, nitric oxide and protein kinase C being behind alterations in junctional adhesion molecules such as occludin and vascular endothelial‐cadherin and vascular leakage of albumin. The role of advanced glycation products and oxidative stress in this vascular pathology is also discussed. The altered molecular mechanisms underlying the vascular changes in the diabetic human placenta may reflect similar consequences of high glucose and hyperinsulinaemia.
Linked morphological changes during palate evolution in early tetrapods
Authors: Kimmel Charles B. , Sidlauskas Brian , Clack Jennifer A.
Published: June 2009

We examined the shapes and sizes of dermal bones of the palate of selected Palaeozoic tetrapods in order to identify the ancestral states of palatal bone morphologies in the earliest tetrapods, to learn how the composition of the palate varies within and among early tetrapod radiations, and to recognize evolutionary correlations among the size and shapes of skeletal elements in this important group of animals. We find that whereas the palatal bones themselves and their arrangements are usually conserved, considerable correlated evolutionary change occurs in the shapes and sizes of the bones. Some of the changes in the bones are allometrically linked to overall palate size, which varies more than 100‐fold among the taxa in our sample. Often, these allometries were only hinted at in traditional independent contrasts‐based regressions of log transformed data, particularly because many allometries are subtle, their slopes may vary among subclades, and the scatter around some trendlines is high. Rather, the allometries showed up in analyses of size‐standardized palatal bone dimensions investigated using independent contrasts, bivariate phylomorphospace plots, and mirrored character reconstructions on the phylogenetic tree. We find negative allometry for parasphenoid lengths and widths essentially across the entire tree of Palaeozoic tetrapods, but with different trajectories characterizing the two largest clades, the temnospondyls and the lepospondyls. The lengths of several other elements may show positive allometries, either across the entire tree or in just a subclade. One possible positive allometry exists for the ectopterygoid, which appears to shorten allometrically in temnospondyls that evolve small body and palate size, and, as inDoleserpetoncan be lost altogether. Both shortening and loss could be by the same developmental change, paedomorphosis, a form of heterochrony. Paedomorphosis might also account for evolution of relatively large parasphenoids in both lepospondyls and diminutive temnospondyls, but does not seem to explain evolution of ectopterygoid loss in lepospondyls. A regularity observed across nearly all taxa in our study set is an inverse correlation between the lengths of the vomer and pterygoid, bones that lie adjacent to one another along the long palatal axis. Further work is needed to learn whether such correlated evolution might be due to adaptation and/or to developmental bias, and particularly to learn how correlations and allometries themselves evolve.
Serotonin and GABA are colocalized in restricted groups of neurons in the larval sea lamprey brain: insights into the early evolution of neurotransmitter colocalization in vertebrates
Authors: Barreiro‐Iglesias Antón , Cornide‐Petronio María Eugenia , Anadón Ramón , Rodicio María Celina
Published: June 2009

Colocalization of the classic neurotransmitters serotonin (5‐HT) and γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) (or the enzyme that synthesizes the latter, glutamate decarboxylase) has been reported in a few neurons of the rat raphe magnus‐obscurus nuclei. However, there are no data on the presence of neurochemically similar neurons in the brain of non‐mammalian vertebrates. Lampreys are the oldest extant vertebrates and may provide important data on the phylogeny of neurochemical systems. The colocalization of 5‐HT and GABA in neurons of the sea lamprey brain was studied using antibodies directed against 5‐HT and GABA and confocal microscopy. Colocalization of the neurotransmitters was observed in the diencephalon and the isthmus. In the diencephalon, about 87% of the serotonergic cells of the rostral tier of the dorsal thalamus (close to the zona limitans) exhibited GABA immunoreactivity. In addition, occasional cells double‐labelled for GABA and 5‐HT were observed in the hypothalamic tuberal nucleus and the pretectum. Of the three serotonergic isthmic subgroups already recognized in the sea lamprey isthmus (dorsal, medial and ventral), such double‐labelled cells were only observed in the ventral subgroup (about 61% of the serotonergic cells in the ventral subgroup exhibited GABA immunoreactivity). An equivalence between these lamprey isthmic cells and the serotonergic/GABAergic raphe cells of mammals is suggested. Present findings suggest that serotonergic/GABAergic neurons are more extensive in lampreys than in the rat and probably appeared before the separation of agnathans and gnathostomes. Cotransmission by release of 5‐HT and GABA by the here‐described lamprey brain neurons is proposed.
An unlikely alliance: the 1907 Ukrainian–Jewish electoral coalition
Authors: SHANES JOSHUA , PETROVSKY‐SHTERN YOHANAN
Published: June 2009

This paper contextualises a political alliance between Ukrainian and Jewish national activists in Austrian Galicia during the 1907 parliamentary elections, Austria's first elections with universal manhood suffrage. This alliance represented a milestone in the making of a new paradigm of Ukrainian–Jewish relations. Ironically, the Ukrainian and Jewish nationalists, portrayed elsewhere as staunch enemies, were uniquely able to overcome the profound social, religious, political, and cultural barriers separating the two communities. Ukrainian nationalists recognised the potential of a nationalised Jewish community to undermine Polish hegemony in Galicia, while some Zionists saw the potential to elect Jewish parliamentary representatives in rural Ukrainian districts where Poles and Jews competed for the districts' second mandate. The alliance mobilised the Ukrainian and Jewish electorate around shared slogans and goals. It was a qualified success, leading to a more powerful national Ukrainian faction as well as the first Zionist faction in any European parliament. Although the two sides failed to repeat the alliance in the subsequent elections in 1911, the coalition sparked a new sense of history for both communities. It created a pro‐Ukrainian discourse in Jewish politics, and a pro‐Zionist one in Ukrainian politics. The alliance also exposes Zionism as a response to the European‐wide nationalist revivalism rather than a reaction to rampant turn‐of‐the‐century racial anti‐Semitism.
Sweet nationalism in bitter days: a commercial representation of Zionism
Authors: FIRST ANAT , HERMANN TAMAR
Published: June 2009

ABSTRACT. This article identifies several theoretical approaches to the role of culture in the construction of national identity. Embedded in the presently emerging approach, which emphasises the relations between popular culture/consumerism and national identity, this study focuses on a specific consumer good manufactured in Israel in the early 2000s, the height of the second Palestinian Intifada (uprising): small sugar packets bearing portraits of the patriarchs of Zionism. The analysis of this product, employing semiotic analysis, interviews and focus groups, locates it in the five ‘moments’ of du Gay's ‘circuit of culture’ (i.e. identity, representation, production, consumption and regulation). Three main general arguments were stated, empirically examined and largely sustained: (1) Consumer goods are used not only for constructing national identity but also as a means for ‘healing’ it; (2) in their ‘healing’ capacity, representations of nationalism on consumer goods do not add new elements to representations offered by the ‘high’ official version of nationalism but replicate them in a simplified way; (3) while trivialising the insights and concepts that originated in ‘high’ culture, consumer goods expose the prejudices, stereotypes and rules of inclusion and exclusion that in ‘high’ culture are often hidden in a sophisticated manner.
The class route to nationhood: China, Vietnam, Norway, Cyprus – and France*
Authors: TØNNESSON STEIN
Published: June 2009

ABSTRACT. This essay explores the proposition that China and Vietnam represent a fourth class route to modern nationhood, in addition to the ethnic (German), civic (French) and plural (American) routes. Nation‐states emerging along the class route are characterised by an exclusive membership based on social class rather than just ethnicity, living under the same laws or participation in liberation from foreign rule. The essay compares China's and Vietnam's class‐based nationalism with the more inclusive labour movement nationalisms of Norway and Cyprus. Then it explains how the class route differs from the French civic route. In the conclusion, the author concedes that the Chinese and Vietnamese class route is perhaps a detour rather than a route of its own, since it leads to inevitable tension between the divisive history of how the nation was formed and the need of its later leaders to include and represent the same social classes that were originally excluded. These leaders and their national storytellers are forced to undertake a redefinition of the national self as ethnic, civic and/or plural in an attempt to recreate national legitimacy, often in competition with more radically nationalist opposition groups.
The assessment of minor neurological dysfunction in infancy using the Touwen Infant Neurological Examination: strengths and limitations
Authors: HADDERS‐ALGRA MIJNA , HEINEMAN KIRSTEN R , BOS AREND F , MIDDELBURG KARIN J
Published: June 2009

Aim  Little is known of minor neurological dysfunction (MND) in infancy. This study aimed to evaluate the inter‐assessor reliability of the assessment of MND with the Touwen Infant Neurological Examination (TINE) and the construct and predictive validity of MND in infancy.

Method  Inter‐assessor agreement was determined in a sample of 40 infants (24 males, 16 females) aged 3 to 12 months (25 born at term: gestational age 37–41wks, median 39; and 15 born preterm, gestational age 24–35wks, median 32). Thirty typically developing term infants (18 males, 12 females; gestational age 37–42wks, median 40) and 59 preterm infants (34 males, 25 females) born at <35 weeks’ gestation (gestational age 25–34wks, median 29) participated in the validity study. They were neurologically assessed with the TINE at the corrected ages of 4, 6, 10, and 12 months and with the Hempel assessment at 18 months.

Results  The findings indicated that MND can be assessed reliably (inter‐assessor agreement: kappa=0.83). MND during infancy was related to prenatal, perinatal, and social factors, and in particular to preterm birth. Neurological condition during infancy was prone to change, but was related to neurological condition at 18 months at all ages tested.

Interpretation  We conclude that MND can be determined reliably in infancy. Important considerations in the construct of MND in infancy are its relation to prenatal and perinatal factors, its limited stability, and its moderate predictive value.
Essential fatty acids and attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review
Authors: RAZ RAANAN , GABIS LIDIA
Published: June 2009

Aim  Essential fatty acids (EFAs), also known as omega‐3 and omega‐6 fatty acids, have been claimed to have beneficial effects as a treatment for attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Animal experiments have provided information about the role of EFA in the brain, and several mechanisms of EFA activity are well known. The current review provides an updated, systematic overview of the theory and use of EFA in ADHD.

Method  Clinical studies and review papers of EFA blood levels and EFA supplementation trials in children with ADHD were researched in the Medline PubMed database. Additional studies were found from the references of these reports.

Results  Children with ADHD present lower levels of blood EFAs, and open‐label EFA supplementation trials in ADHD raise EFA blood levels and improve symptoms of ADHD. Randomized controlled trials, however, have generally been unsuccessful in demonstrating any behavioural treatment effects.

Interpretation  Current findings do not support the use of EFA supplements as a primary or supplementary treatment for children with ADHD.
Differentiating attention deficits in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder
Authors: KOOISTRA LIBBE , CRAWFORD SUSAN , GIBBARD BEN , RAMAGE BARBARA , KAPLAN BONNIE J
Published: June 2009

Aim  The attention and inhibition problems found in children with attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also common in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Attempts to distinguish ADHD from FASDs in terms of these deficits are rare and were pursued in this study.

Method  A total of 116 children (47 with ADHD, 31 males, 16 females; 30 with FASDs, 17 males, 13 females; and 39 comparison children, 20 males, 19 females) participated. The mean age was 9 years 4 months (SD 1y 8mo) in the ADHD groups, 8 years 10 months (SD 1y 2mo) in the FASD group, and 9 years 1 month (SD 1y 1mo) in the comparison group. Sustained attention was tested with a slow event rate continuous performance task (CPT). Inhibitory control was tested with both a slow and fast event rate Go/No‐Go task.

Results  On the CPT task, children with ADHD, combined type (ADHD‐C), ADHD, primarily inattentive type (ADHD‐PI), and FASDs showed greater declines in task performance as a function of time than comparison children, suggesting sustained attention problems in all clinical groups. Children’s Go/No‐Go performance was event‐rate dependent, with the ADHD‐C group being affected in the slow condition and the ADHD‐PI and FASD groups having problems with the fast condition.

Interpretation  Children with ADHD‐C are typically impaired in handling understimulation, while children with FASDs may have problems with overstimulation. The dissociation in responsivity to event rate between groups may have significant differential diagnostic value.
Sibling sex ratio of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as children
Authors: MOURIDSEN SVEND ERIK , RICH BENTE , ISAGER TORBEN
Published: June 2009

Aim  To study the sex ratio (proportion of males) in siblings of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) as children.

Method  In the current study, we extended previous studies dealing with the androgen theory of autism and examined sex ratios in the siblings of 326 individuals with ASD (245 males, 81 females) who had been consecutively assessed at two Danish university clinics of child psychiatry during the 25‐year period from 1960 to 1985.

Results  Among the 513 siblings, 300 were males and 213 females. This yields a sex ratio of 0.585, which is significantly higher than the Danish live‐birth sex ratio over the same period (0.514, p=0.001). The sibling sex ratio was not associated with the IQ in the autistic probands.

Interpretation  Our findings suggest a potential indirect confirmation of the androgen theory of autism.
Facial EMG and heart rate responses to emotion‐inducing film clips in boys with disruptive behavior disorders
Authors: De Wied Minet , Boxtel Anton Van , Posthumus Jocelyne A. , Goudena Paul P. , Matthys Walter
Published: June 2009

We examined aspects of emotional empathy across different physiological response systems in boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) and normal controls. Heart rate (HR) and electromyographic (EMG) reactivity in zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles were monitored during sadness‐, anger‐, or happiness‐inducing film clips. Relative to controls, DBD boys showed significantly less HR reduction during sadness, and a smaller increase in corrugator EMG activity both during sadness and anger. No significant group differences emerged in HR and zygomaticus EMG responsivity during happiness. We also examined cardiac activity at rest and found higher resting HR and lower respiratory sinus arrhythmia in DBD boys compared to controls. Findings give evidence for a selective impairment in empathy with sadness and anger (not happiness) among DBD boys who exhibit relatively high levels of anxiety and poor emotional control.
An alternative scoring method for skin conductance responding in a differential fear conditioning paradigm with a long‐duration conditioned stimulus
Authors: Pineles Suzanne L. , Orr Matthew R. , Orr Scott P.
Published: June 2009

Researchers examining skin conductance (SC) as a measure of aversive conditioning commonly separate the SC response into two components when the CS‐UCS interval is sufficiently long. This convention drew from early theorists who described these components, the first‐ and second‐interval responses, as measuring orienting and conditional responses, respectively. The present report critically examines this scoring method through a literature review and a secondary data analysis of a large‐scale study of police and firefighter trainees that used a differential aversive conditioning procedure (n=287). The task included habituation, acquisition, and extinction phases, with colored circles as the CSs and shocks as the UCS. Results do not support the convention of separating the SC response into first‐ and second‐interval responses. It is recommended that SC response scores be derived from data obtained across the entire CS‐UCS interval.
Enhanced cardiac perception is associated with benefits in decision‐making
Authors: Werner Natalie S. , Jung Katharina , Duschek Stefan , Schandry Rainer
Published: June 2009

In the present study we provide the first empirical evidence that viscero‐sensory feedback from an internal organ is associated with decision‐making processes. Participants with accurate vs. poor perception of their heart activity were compared with regard to their performance in the Iowa Gambling Task. During this task, participants have to choose between four card decks. Decks A and B yield high gains and high losses, and if played continuously, result in net loss. In contrast, decks C and D yield small gains and also small losses, but result in net profit if they are selected continuously. Accordingly, participants have to learn to avoid the net loss options in favor of the net gain options. In our study, participants with good cardiac perception chose significantly more of the net gain and fewer of the net loss options. Our findings document the substantial role of visceral feedback in decision‐making processes in complex situations.
Cuba's Medical Internationalism: Development and Rationale
Authors: KIRK JOHN M.
Published: June 2009

Since 1960, Cuba has been involved in providing medical support to the developing world, and at present has some 40,000 personnel in 74 countries – more than all of the G‐8 countries combined. This article traces the evolution from its first (1960) mission to the current stage. The article also analyses various explanations for this extraordinary mixture of diplomacy and humanitarianism.
Cultural Policy and Cultural Politics in Revolutionary Cuba: Re‐reading the Palabras a los intelectuales (Words to the Intellectuals)
Authors: KUMARASWAMI PAR
Published: June 2009

This article re‐reads Fidel Castro's speech to Cuban artists and intellectuals at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí (National Library) in June 1961. Despite extensive discussion of its famous extract, the speech has rarely been examined in depth. This article thus analyses the entire speech, situating it within its co‐text and its context and examining its multiple functions, offering as it does an insight into the social and educational implications of cultural revolution in Cuba and the inevitable tensions inherent in these. The article evaluates the negotiations in the text in the light of their relevance to contemporary cultural debates in Cuba.
Relationship between microglial activation and dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra: a time course study in a 6‐hydroxydopamine model of Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Marinova‐Mutafchieva Lilia , Sadeghian Mona , Broom Lauren , Davis John B. , Medhurst Andrew D. , Dexter David T.
Published: June 2009

Cellular interactions between activated microglia and degenerating neurons inin vivomodels of Parkinson’s disease are not well defined. This time course study assesses the dynamics of morphological and immunophenotypic properties of activated microglia in a 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) model of Parkinson’s disease. Neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) was induced by unilateral injection of 6‐OHDA into the medial forebrain bundle. Activated microglia, identified using monoclonal antibodies: clone of antibody that detects major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens (OX6) for MHC class II, clone of antibody that detects cell surface antigen‐cluster of differentiation 11b – anti‐complement receptor 3, a marker for complement receptor 3 and CD 68 for phagocytic activity. Activation of microglia in the lesioned SNc was rapid with cells possessing amoeboid or ramified morphology appeared on day 1, whilst antibody clone that detects macrophage‐myeloid associated antigen immunoreactivity was observed at day 3 post‐lesion when there was no apparent loss of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)+ve dopaminergic (DA) SNc neurons. Thereafter, OX6 and antibody clone that detects macrophage‐myeloid associated antigen activated microglia selectively adhered to degenerating axons, dendrites and apoptotic (caspase 3+ve) DA neurons in the SNc were observed at day 7. This was followed by progressive loss of TH+ve SNc neurons, with the peak of TH+ve cell loss (51%) being observed at day 9. This study suggests that activation of microglia precedes DA neuronal cell loss and neurons undergoing degeneration may be phagocytosed prematurely by phagocytic microglia.
A protein–protein interaction of stress‐responsive myosin VI endowed to inhibit neural progenitor self‐replication with RNA binding protein, TLS, in murine hippocampus
Authors: Takarada Takeshi , Tamaki Keisuke , Takumi Toru , Ogura Masato , Ito Yuma , Nakamichi Noritaka , Yoneda Yukio
Published: June 2009

We have shown preferential expression of both mRNA and corresponding protein for myosin VI (Myo6) in the murine hippocampus within 24 h after the extreme traumatic experience, water‐immersion restraint stress (WIRS), prior to a drastic decrease in neural progenitor proliferation in the dentate gyrus. Myosin (Myo6) protein levels were significantly increased in hippocampus within 24 h after flashback experience in mice previously exposed to WIRS. Myo6 protein was ubiquitously distributed in discrete mouse brain regions with exceptionally high expression in olfactory bulb, whereas Myo6 protein was expressed in cultured rat astroglia and neurons, in addition to Myo6 mRNA expression by cultured neural progenitors. In mouse embryonal carcinoma P19 cells endowed to proliferate and differentiate, Myo6 protein was expressed in line with astroglial marker protein expression. Transient over‐expression of Myo6 induced a significant decrease in the size of clustered aggregates as an index of self‐replication in P19 cells. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed the interaction between Myo6 and the RNA‐binding protein, translocated in liposarcoma (TLS), while TLS was predominantly expressed by neurons in the cortex, striatum, cerebellum, and hippocampus. These results suggest that Myo6 may play a pivotal role in the mechanism underlying the suppressed adult neurogenesis after traumatic stress in association with TLS.
αA‐crystallin and αB‐crystallin, newly identified interaction proteins of protease‐activated receptor‐2, rescue astrocytes from C2‐ceramide‐ and staurosporine‐induced cell death
Authors: Li Rongyu , Rohatgi Tanuja , Hanck Theodor , Reiser Georg
Published: June 2009

Protease‐activated receptor‐2 (PAR‐2) is a G protein‐coupled receptor activated by trypsin and other trypsin‐like serine proteases. The widely expressed PAR‐2 is involved in inflammation response but the physiological/pathological roles of PAR‐2 in the nervous system are still uncertain. In the present study, we report novel PAR‐2 interaction proteins, αA‐crystallin and αB‐crystallin. These 20 kDa proteins have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases like Alexander’s disease, Creutzfeldt‐Jacob disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Results from yeast two‐hybrid assay using the cytoplasmic C‐tail of PAR‐2 as bait suggested that αA‐crystallin interacts with PAR‐2. We further demonstrate thein vitroand cellularin vivointeraction of C‐tail of PAR‐2 as well as of full‐length PAR‐2 with αA(αB)‐crystallins. We use pull‐down, co‐immunoprecipitation, and co‐localization assays. Analysis of αA‐crystallin deletion mutants showed that amino acids 120–130 and 136–154 of αA‐crystallin are required for the interaction with PAR‐2. Co‐immunoprecipitation experiments ruled out an interaction of αA(αB)‐crystallins with PAR‐1, PAR‐3, and PAR‐4. This demonstrates that αA(αB)‐crystallins are PAR‐2‐specific interaction proteins. Moreover, we investigated the functional role of PAR‐2 and α‐crystallins in astrocytes. Evidence is presented to show that PAR‐2 activation and increased expression of α‐crystallins reduced C2‐ceramide‐ and staurosporine‐induced cell death in astrocytes. Thus, both PAR‐2 and α‐crystallins are involved in cytoprotection in astrocytes.
GABA action in immature neocortical neurons directly depends on the availability of ketone bodies
Authors: Rheims Sylvain , Holmgren Carl D. , Chazal Genevieve , Mulder Jan , Harkany Tibor , Zilberter Tanya , Zilberter Yuri
Published: June 2009

In the early postnatal period, energy metabolism in the suckling rodent brain relies to a large extent on metabolic pathways alternate to glucose such as the utilization of ketone bodies (KBs). However, how KBs affect neuronal excitability is not known. Using recordings of single NMDA and GABA‐activated channels in neocortical pyramidal cells we studied the effects of KBs on the resting membrane potential (Em) and reversal potential of GABA‐induced anionic currents (EGABA), respectively. We show that during postnatal development (P3–P19) if neocortical brain slices are adequately supplied with KBs, Em and EGABA are both maintained at negative levels of about −83 and −80 mV, respectively. Conversely, a KB deficiency causes a significant depolarization of both Em (>5 mV) and EGABA (>15 mV). The KB‐mediated shift in EGABA is largely determined by the interaction of the NKCC1 cotransporter and Cl−/HCO3 transporter(s). Therefore, by inducing a hyperpolarizing shift in Em and modulating GABA signaling mode, KBs can efficiently control the excitability of neonatal cortical neurons.
Effect of biological soil crusts on soil elemental concentrations: implications for biogeochemistry and as traceable biosignatures of ancient life on land
Authors: BERALDI‐CAMPESI H. , HARTNETT H. E. , ANBAR A. , GORDON G. W. , GARCIA‐PICHEL F.
Published: June 2009

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are topsoil biosedimentary structures built by photosynthetic microbes commonly found today on arid soils. They play a role in soil stabilization and the fertility of arid lands, and are considered modern analogues of ancient terrestrial microbial communities. We determined the concentrations of four biogenic and 21 other elements, mostly metals, in surface soils that hosted BSCs, in the soils underneath those crusts, and in proximate but non‐crusted surface soils. The samples were from six sites in the Colorado Plateau highlands and the Sonoran Desert lowlands. In spite of the variability in climate and geologic setting, we found statistically significant overall trends of enrichment in biogenic elements and depletion in non‐biogenic elements when BSCs were compared with non‐crusted soils. The differences between crusted and non‐crusted soils were statistically significant at ∼95% confidence for C, N (enrichments) and for Ca, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, and Zr (depletions). These trends are best explained by the activity of microbes. As expected, no differences in the concentrations of C, N, P, and S were detected between the soils underneath the crusts and the non‐crusted soils, but the former showed depletion of non‐biogenic elements, indicating that the leaching effect of crust microbes extends downward in the soil. These patterns speak to the need for a sustained input of allochthonous material, possibly dust, to maintain BSC fertility. These elemental patterns can be considered a biosignature that may be preserved in the rock record and might help identify ancient microbial communities on land.
Time course of vascular prostanoid production in the fructose‐hypertensive rat
Authors: Puyó A. M. , Zabalza M. , Mayer M. , Carranza A. , Peredo H. A.
Published: June 2009

1 There is a relationship between hypertension, insulin resistance and an altered plasmatic lipid profile known as ‘metabolic syndrome’. Fructose (F) overload induces in the rat a mild hypertension associated with metabolic alterations such as hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance, resembling such syndrome.

2 Prostanoids (PR), metabolites of arachidonic acid, include vasoactive substances synthesized and released by the vessel wall. An altered pattern of PR release has been previously found in mesenteric vessels of experimental diabetic rats.

3 This study analyzed the effects of F‐overload during different periods (4, 9, 15 and 22 weeks) on PR release in aorta (A) and mesenteric vascular beds (MVB). Animals received tap water (control) or F solution (10% w/v) to drink.

4 Rats with F overload showed significantly higher systolic blood pressure, glycemia and triglyceridemia than controls; but no differences in this parameters were found among periods of treatment either in controls or experimental animals.

5 In A, prostacyclin was decreased at 9, 15 and 22 weeks of treatment when compared to 4 weeks and controls. In MVB, prostacyclin showed different patterns of release in the studied periods of F overload. Prostaglandin (PG) E2 diminish in MVB at the same extent in all periods. No changes were observed in A. The vasoconstrictor thromboxane was elevated in the MVB at 9 weeks. PGF2α, also a vasoconstrictor, remains unchanged.

6 In conclusion, F overload provokes in the rat a decrease in the vascular production of vasodilator PR and, in one of the studied periods, an increase in the release of the vasoconstrictor thromboxane, leading to a negative imbalance in the prostacylin/thromboxane ratio. This could be involved in the blood pressure alterations found in this experimental model of metabolic syndrome.
Purinergic regulation of vascular tone and remodelling
Authors: Burnstock G.
Published: June 2009

1 Purinergic signalling is involved both in short‐term control of vascular tone and in longer‐term control of cell proliferation, migration and death involved in vascular remodelling.

2 There is dual control of vascular tone by adenosine 5′‐triphosphate (ATP) released from perivascular nerves and by ATP released from endothelial cells in response to changes in blood flow (shear stress) and hypoxia.

3 Both ATP and its breakdown product, adenosine, regulate smooth muscle and endothelial cell proliferation.

4 These regulatory mechanisms are important in pathological conditions, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, restenosis, diabetes and vascular pain.
Pharmacology of the internal anal sphincter and its relevance to faecal incontinence
Authors: Mills K. , Chess‐Williams R.
Published: June 2009

1 The internal anal sphincter (IAS) has a spontaneous tone and is the main contributor to the maintenance of faecal continence. The spontaneous resting tone exhibited by the sphincter can be modified by neurotransmitters from the autonomic and enteric nervous systems.

2 In this review, the influence of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems on IAS tone are discussed and the putative roles of nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, vasoactive intestinal peptide and adenosine triphosphate in non‐adrenergic non‐cholinergic transmission are considered.

3 Faecal incontinence is a common condition that places a heavy financial burden on the health service and severely affects patients’ quality of life. Resting anal pressure is reduced in patients with faecal incontinence and agents that increase sphincter tone tend to relieve symptoms. The results of clinical studies of the use of phenylephrine to treat faecal incontinence are reviewed.

4 It is concluded that the IAS is a potential target for drug development for the treatment of faecal incontinence.
The role of nitric oxide in A3 adenosine receptor‐mediated cardioprotection
Authors: Hussain A. , Karjian P. , Maddock H.
Published: June 2009

1 Limiting the impact of ischemia reperfusion‐related cell death is of vital importance given the enormous figures of heart related mortality in the world.

2 Coronary heart disease (CHD) is responsible for over 100 000 deaths in the UK each year, and is the most common cause of premature death in the UK and as a whole it is estimated that there are just over 1.5 million men, and 1.1 million women, who have suffered CHD in the form of either angina or myocardial infarction (http://www.heartstats.org).

3 In patients undergoing standard clinical reperfusion treatment today such as thrombolysis, percutaneous coronary angioplasty (primary PCTA), and bypass surgery, there remains an underscored need for novel therapies and strategies to reduce post‐ischemic infarct size.

4 This review focuses on some of the intracellular signalling pathways that have been proposed to be coupled to A3 adenosine receptors in order to reduce post‐ischemic infarct size, in particular the role of nitric oxide in A3 adenosine receptor‐mediated cardioprotection is discussed.
Nitrite reduction by the red cell membrane: a mechanism with a biological role?
Authors: Pinder A. G. , Rogers S. C. , Morris K. , James P. E.
Published: June 2009

The possible role of nitric oxide (NO) metabolites in vivo has gained much interest in recent years, in particular, the interaction of these species with red blood cells. We investigated the potential for the membrane of red blood cells to act as a nitrite reductase site. Using both EPR (electromagnetic resonance spectroscopy) and ozone based chemiluminescence we were able to demonstrate NO generation from nitrite by the red cell membrane. The exact components responsible for this action are yet to be elucidated, but the response was unchanged by L‐NMMA suggesting that eNOS is not involved. Reduction at the membrane could provide an entry route for NO into the red cell where it could produce potentially bioactive species e.g. nitrosylated proteins (RSNOs). If the nitrite reduction occurred on the outer surface of the red cell membrane it is also feasible that some NO may escape auto capture by that red cell, however in whole blood it is likely to be rapidly metabolised. In conclusion, this mechanism could provide a route by which nitrite, acting as a substrate, could be reduced to NO and form other, more biologically accessible species.
Mechanical weeding effects on soil structure under field carrots (Daucus carota L.) and beans (Vicia faba L.)
Authors: Ball B. C. , Crawford C. E.
Published: June 2009

The successful production of organic vegetables relies heavily on mechanical weeding, flame weeding and stale seedbeds. These operations involve repeated passes by tractors. Mechanical weeding also involves regular tillage. This combination of repeated tillage and compaction changes soil structure. We studied these structural changes in two fields of organic carrots and one field of beans in eastern Scotland. Structure was described by measuring soil strength with a vane shear tester and a cone penetrometer, by measuring bulk density and by visual assessment. Under beans, vane shear strength below the growing root zone was highly variable and in some areas was high enough to restrict root growth (>50 kPa). The carrots were grown in beds containing crop rows separated by bare soil. The bare soil was regularly weeded mechanically. The structure of this weeded soil in the top 10 cm layer of a loam eventually became disrupted and compacted enough to deter root growth (vane shear strength of 70 kPa). In addition the topsoil and subsoil in the wheel‐tracks between the beds became very compact with little distinguishable structure. This compaction extended to the subsoil and persisted into the next cropping season (cone resistance >3 MPa at 35–50 cm depth). Reduced tillage by discing without ploughing was used to incorporate the straw used to protect the carrots overwinter and prepare the soil for the next crop. The resulting topsoil quality was poor leading to anaerobic growing conditions which restricted growth of the following crop and led to losses of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. The greatest threat to soil quality posed by mechanical weeding was subsoil compaction by tractor wheeling.
THE CANAL SYSTEM IN SCLERITES OF LOWER CAMBRIANSINOSACHITES(HALKIERIIDAE: SACHITIDA): SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE MOLLUSCAN AFFINITIES OF THE SACHITIDS
Authors: VINTHER JAKOB
Published: June 2009

Abstract: The halkieriids (SachitidaHe, 1980) from the Early to Mid Cambrian possess a hollow sclerite with a complex branching canal system. An analysis of the canal system morphology in the halkieriidSinosachites(Thambetolepis)delicatus(Jell, 1981) from South Australia reveals similarities to the aesthete canal system in the shell plates of chitons, which has been analysed in a number of extant taxa. The compartments, referred to as macro‐aesthetes in chitons, and lateral canals in halkieriids, have overlapping diameters and are constrained in morphology by the space of accommodation by maintaining a constant width, whereas length is more variable. Both canal systems are morphologically distinct from shell pores of other lophotrochozoans and known mollusc classes. Similarities in sclerite growth, microstructure and mineralogy further suggest that halkieriids, along with the other sachitids, are molluscs, most likely stem aculiferans (Polyplacophora and Aplacophora).
THE ESTABLISHMENT, REFORM, AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA'S SYSTEM OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
Authors: Xu Xianchun
Published: June 2009

This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive account of the establishment, reform, and development of China's System of National Accounts, focusing on important changes in concepts and methods in national accounting during China's transition from the Soviet‐type Material Product System to the United Nations System of National Accounts, as well as existing problems and challenges that must be faced in the further development of the system.
EXPERIENCES AND PROBLEMS OF THE CIS COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION FROM THE MPS TO THE SNA
Authors: Ivanov Youri N.
Published: June 2009

This paper reviews the transition of national accounts in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries from the Material Product System (MPS) to the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) and discusses the major problems that still need to be solved in order to improve the quality of their national accounts. It argues that the MPS practice tended to exaggerate growth not because of different concepts, but because of methodological problems such as inadequate deflation due to poor price data and incomplete coverage of the non‐observed economy as well as overpricing of new or modified products and institutional flaws that motivated data fabrication by enterprises. However, the heritages of the problems under the MPS, together with the emerging new types of institutional units, new sources of income and market‐driven new services, have made the transition difficult.