bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isolated rural general practice as the focus for teaching core clinical rotations to pre-registration medical students
Authors: Margolis Stephen A , Davies Llewellyn M , Ypinazar Valmae
Published: June 2005

Background

Earlier studies have successfully demonstrated that medical students can achieve success in core clinical rotations with long term attachments in small groups to rural general / family practices.

Methods

In this study, three students from a class of 226 volunteered for this 1-year pilot program, conducted by the University of Queensland in 2004, for medical students in the 3rd year of a 4-year graduate entry medical course. Each student was based with a private solo general practitioner in a different rural town between 170 and 270 km from the nearest teaching hospital. Each was in a relatively isolated rural setting, rated 5 or 6 on the RRMA scale (Rural, Remote, Metropolitan Classification: capital city = 1, other metropolitan = 2, large regional city = 3, most remote community = 7). The rural towns had populations respectively of 500, 2000 and 10,000. One practice also had a General Practice registrar. Only one of the locations had doctors in the same town but outside the teaching practice, while all had other doctors within the same area. All 3 supervisors had hospital admitting rights to a hospital within their town. The core clinical rotations of medicine, surgery, mental health, general practice and rural health were primarily conducted within these rural communities, with the student based in their own consulting room at the general practitioner (GP) supervisor's surgery. The primary teacher was the GP supervisor, with additional learning opportunities provided by visiting specialists, teleconferences and university websites. At times, especially during medicine and surgery terms, each student would return to the teaching hospital for additional learning opportunities.

Results

All students successfully completed the year. There were no statistical differences in marks at summative assessment in each of the five core rotations between the students in this pilot and their peers at the metropolitan or rural hospital based clinical schools.

Conclusion

The results suggest that isolated rural general practice could provide a more substantial role in medical student education.
Immune response to pneumococcal polysaccharides 4 and 14 in elderly and young adults. I Antibody concentrations, avidity and functional activity
Authors: Kolibab Kris , Smithson S Louise , Shriner Anne K , Khuder Sadik , Romero-Steiner Sandra , Carlone George M , Westerink MA Julie
Published: June 2005

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a serious worldwide pathogen and the focus of numerous vaccine development projects. Currently the most widely accepted surrogate marker for evaluating the efficacy of a given vaccine is to utilize ELISA. Measurement of antibody concentration by ELISA without reduction in cross-reactive antibodies causes an overestimation of antibody concentration and therefore protection, this is most notable in the aged, an at risk group for this infection. We compared the immune response to the pneumococcal polysaccharides (PPS) 4 and 14 of 20 young to 20 elderly adults. Pre-and post-vaccination IgG antibody concentrations and antibody avidity against PPS4 and PPS14 were measured using two different enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) absorption protocols. All sera were pre-absorbed with either cell-wall polysaccharide (CPS), or CPS and serotype 22F polysaccharide.

Pre- and post-vaccination IgG antibody concentrations for serotype 4, but not 14, were significantly lowered with the additional absorption with serotype 22F polysaccharide in both age groups. Young and elderly demonstrated a significant increase from pre- to post-immunization antibody concentration, using either absorption method; and opsonophagocytic antibody titers in response to both PPS4 and PPS14. The correlation coefficients between ELISA and opsonophagocytic assays were improved by additional absorption with serotype 22F in response to serotype 4, but not serotype 14 in all age groups. Opsonophagocytic antibody titers in a sub-group of elderly (>77 years of age) were significantly lower than the opsonophagocytic antibody concentrations in young adults.

These results suggest the importance of eliminating cross-reactive antibodies from ELISA measurements by absorption of serum and an age-related impairment in the antibody response to pneumococcal polysaccharides.
Expansion of antibody reactivity in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients – follow-up and clinical implications
Authors: Petereit Hela-Felicitas , Reske Dirk
Published: June 2005

Background

An intrathecal polyspecific antibody response is a well known finding in multiple sclerosis. However, little is known about the evolution of intrathecal antibodies over time and their impact on the disease progress. Therefore, we focused in this study on the intrathecal polyspecific antibody response in multiple sclerosis.

Methods

Here we present a follow-up study of 70 patients with multiple sclerosis over 1 to 106 months. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid sample pairs were obtained from 1 to 5 consecutive lumbar punctures. CSF cell count, the IgG index, local IgG synthesis, oligoclonal bands and the antibody index for measles, rubella or varicella zoster were calculated. Results were analysed with regard to clinical characteristics of the patients.

Results

Once an intrathecal antibody response was established, it persisted. De novo antibody response against measles virus developed in 7% of the patients between the first and the second spinal tap. In two of seven patients where 5 consecutive CSF samples were available, the intrathecal antibody response expanded from one to three antigens. Furthermore, an intrathecal measles antibody production was associated with a rapid progression of the disease.

Conclusion

These data stress the importance of activated B cells for the disease process and the clinical outcome in multiple sclerosis.
The influence of hydrogen peroxide and histamine on lung permeability and translocation of iridium nanoparticles in the isolated perfused rat lung
Authors: Meiring James J , Borm Paul JA , Bagate Karim , Semmler Manuela , Seitz Jürgen , Takenaka Shinji , Kreyling Wolfgang G
Published: June 2005

Background

Translocation of ultrafine particles (UFP) into the blood that returns from the lungs to the heart has been forwarded as a mechanism for particle-induced cardiovascular effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of the endothelial barrier in the translocation of inhaled UFP from the lung into circulation.

Methods

The isolated perfused rat lung (IPRL) was used under negative pressure ventilation, and radioactive iridium particles (18 nm, CMD, 192Ir-UFP) were inhaled during 60 minutes to achieve a lung burden of 100 – 200 μg. Particle inhalation was done under following treatments: i) control perfusion, ii) histamine (1 μM in perfusate, iii) luminal histamine instillation (1 mM), and iv) luminal instillation of H2O2. Particle translocation to the perfusate was assessed by the radioactivity of 192Ir isotope. Lung permeability by the use of Tc99m-labeled diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA). In addition to light microscopic morphological evaluation of fixed lungs, alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) in perfusate were measured to assess epithelial and endothelial integrity.

Results

Particle distribution in the lung was homogenous and similar to in vivo conditions. No translocation of Ir particles at negative pressure inhalation was detected in control IPL, but lungs pretreated with histamine (1 μM) in the perfusate or with luminal H2O2 (0.5 mM) showed small amounts of radioactivity (2–3 % dose) in the single pass perfusate starting at 60 min of perfusion. Although the kinetics of particle translocation were different from permeability for 99mTc-DTPA, the pretreatments (H2O2, vascular histamine) caused similar changes in the translocation of particles and soluble mediator. Increased translocation through epithelium and endothelium with a lag time of one hour occurred in the absence of epithelial and endothelial damage.

Conclusion

Permeability of the lung barrier to UFP or nanoparticles is controlled both at the epithelial and endothelial level. Conditions that affect this barrier function such as inflammation may affect translocation of NP.
Cylindrical illuminance and its importance in integrating daylight with artificial light
Authors: Nassar A , El-Ganainy MM , Moktader FA , El-Kareem SM , Haridi MA
Published: June 2005

The cylindrical illuminance provided by artificial lighting and daylight on the working plane are determined. This enables the role of daylight integration with artificial lighting to be evaluated. The integration was carried out for two cases: the first in which the total horizontal illuminance at a point equalled 554 lux and the second case in which the total cylindrical illuminance at the same point equalled 150 lux. The results show that the role of daylight is greater in the second case.
Discourse analysis and the experience of ECT
Authors: Johnstone Lucy , Frith Hannah
Published: June 2005

The authors present a discourse analysis of an influential paper on the experience of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). By focusing on how patients are construed in this article, they deconstruct the ways in which the case for ECT as ‘helpful and not particularly frightening’ is made. They argue that, as with all academic writing, a discourse of scientific objectivity can be used to privilege certain views and promote certain interests.
Book Reviews
Authors: Van Dyk Ryno K.
Published: June 2005

Men, women, passion and power: Gender issues in psychotherapy

Marie Maguire Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Brunner‐Routledge, 2004. Pp., 256, £16.99, ISBN 1‐58391‐267‐3
Introduction: The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum six years on
Authors: Arruti Nerea
Published: June 2005

This volume aims to contribute to the debate from this very perspective: nobody doubts the very real achievements of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in opening up Basque culture to new possibilities, but suggest an equally real need for critical analysis and debate.
Challenging the seductions of the Bilbao Guggenheim
Authors: Jones Anny Brooksbank
Published: June 2005

The seductive qualities of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao are usually attributed to its technological and aesthetic sophistication and its striking presence. Hardly less seductive, however, in the view of Basque cultural critic Joseba Zulaika, were the tactics employed by the Guggenheim's
director, Thomas Krens, in the conception and planning of the museum. The article looks briefly at some of the challenges to each of these forms of seduction, before concluding that, six years on, the challenges and seductions of the project remain very finely balanced.
Reflecting Basqueness: Bilbao from mausoleum to museum
Authors: Arruti Nerea
Published: June 2005

This paper studies the links between death and renewal in the city of Bilbao, and the tension between the city as museum and mausoleum – that is, the dynamic relationship between memory and oblivion. The uniqueness of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum will be problematized, contrasting
Adorno's and Benjamin's views on aura. The paper will also explore to what extent a new critical framework is necessary to study the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum as the paradigm of the new museum.
The role of the Guggenheim Museum in the development of urban entrepreneurial practices in Bilbao
Authors: Ceballos Sara González
Published: June 2005

The Guggenheim Museum has had many ‘effects’ on the lives of local citizens and politicians in Bilbao as well as on wider communities such as architects, planners, cultural policy-makers or museologists. This article, however, deals with the effect that the museum has had
on the urban governance practices in Bilbao. Urban policy literature has clearly identified that contemporary cities are adopting an entrepreneurial approach to deal with increasing pressures to compete with each other and attract investment in a globalized world. This approach is connected
to neo-liberal state policies that threaten social inclusion and democracy. The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has to be considered within this wider trend and has played an important role in the consolidation of urban entrepreneurialism in Bilbao. The danger is, as I will show, that these practices
can be taken for granted without internal reflection, and can therefore be institutionalized in urban policy.
Privatizing Russian radio: a post-perestroika perspective
Authors: Keith Michael C. , Sterling Christopher H. , Yudin Anna
Published: June 2005

Just five years ago, at the end of 1999, Russia celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the inception of regularly scheduled radio broadcasting in the country. The landmark offers a good occasion to reflect on the past and present of Russian radio. For most of the twentieth century
the medium operated in a totalitarian state characterized by profound social stagnation. For the past dozen years - and at an increasing pace since the anniversary - the situation has been quite different. This article briefly explores the past differences and the growing present-day similarities
between Russian and American radio.
The Third Man and the third medium: radio and the characterization of Harry Lime
Authors: Dern John A.
Published: June 2005

This essay argues that the radio drama The Adventures of Harry Lime, also called The Lives of Harry Lime, alters the characterization of its eponymous hero, who previously appeared as the antagonist in Carol Reed's film The Third Man and Graham Greene's novel of
the same name. In the latter media, Harry Lime develops as a truly evil character, a black marketeer and an unrepentant child murderer. In the radio drama, Lime becomes little more than a roguish criminal, a Robin Hood errant. One reason for this change, which manifests itself in conjunction
with differences in the point of view, the ironic function of the zither music, and the setting, concerns the need of a weekly radio drama to forbear from violating what Aristotle calls ‘the moral sense’. A more important reason concerns the needs of the glamorous detective genre,
the format the programme employs.
Data Mining mit Prozessdaten (Data Mining with Process Data)
Authors: Schuppert Andreas , Perne Rainer
Published: June 2005

Durch die zunehmende Komplexität der Produktionsprozesse in innovativen Anwendungsfeldern wird die Prozessanalyse und -Modellierung vor neue Herausforderungen gestellt. Typische Problemfelder sind reaktive Feststoffprozesse, komplexe Polymerisationsprozesse und insbesondere biotechnologische Prozesse. Zur Analyse solcher extrem komplexer Systeme sind spezialisierte Verfahren verfügbar, die unter dem Sammelbegriff „Data Mining“ subsummiert werden. Sie erlauben eine zuverlässige Extraktion auch komplexer Muster mit hohem Informationsgehalt aus unstrukturierten Daten. Die für die Prozessanalyse relevanten softwaretechnischen und methodischen Aspekte des Data Mining werden diskutiert und entsprechende Anwendungsworkflows exemplarisch am Beispiel eines biotechnischen Produktionsprozesses sowie eines Polymerprozesses demonstriert.
THE UNRULY COPIES OF DON JUAN
Authors: COOLIGAN COLETTE
Published: June 2005

While Lord Byron was among the literary elite of Romantic print culture, his combination of blasphemy, political sedition, and hedonistic morality also made him a great favorite among underground publishers with radical allegiances and unconventional morality. Byron's long poem Don Juan (1819-1824) was the fulcrum for colliding communities within London's rapidly expanding print culture of the 1820s. Increasingly aligned with an underground radical, libertarian, and obscene press, Byron's poem animated debates about the proliferation and mass consumption of popular print. The pirating of Don Juan's later scandalous harem cantos only escalated the debates and ultimately led to legal deliberation over the poem's copyright. In this paper I argue that the controversy that erupted over Don Juan was connected to the emergence of obscenity as a trade and reveals how obscenity began to gather meaning in relation to reprographic media, popular consumption, and orientalism.
"ENTIRELY BLACK VERSE FROM HIM WOULD SUCCEED
Authors: JARRETT GENE
Published: June 2005

In a letter to a literary editor about promising American writers, William Dean Howells asserted that "a book of entirely black verse" from the African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar "would succeed." Howells's appreciation of the racial authenticity of Dunbar's dialect poetry belongs to a larger critical and commercial demand for "minstrel realism" in postbellum nineteenth-century American culture. The racialism of blackface minstrelsy created a cultural precondition in which postbellum audiences regarded Black minstrelsy (that is, minstrelsy performed by Blacks) as realistic. This reaction resulted from the commercialization of Black minstrelsy in American culture as an avant-garde cultural performance of racial authenticity. An analogous reaction, I suggest, occurred in 1896, when Dunbar published Majors and Minors and Howells reviewed it in Harper's Weekly. By situating the ideological politics of Howells's criticism of African American literature, I show that Howells ignored the characteristic eschewal of romance and sentiment in Anglo-American literary realism, while also de�ning African American literary realism in these very terms. This apparent inconsistency results from Howells's subscription to racialism, which then helped to perpetuate this de�nition in the dramatic and literary cultures of minstrelsy. Ultimately, the relationship between Howells and Dunbar and the implications for African American writers confronting a White-dominated literary marketplace might be an overwhelmingly familiar story. Less intuitive or obvious, however, are the precise ways in which the racialism of Howells and this marketplace arbitrated the realism of African American literature.
Elgar's Invention of the Human: Falstaff, Opus 68
Authors: Scott J. P. E.
Published: June 2005

Falstaff, Elgar's tragic symphonic study, is at once program music, a minor piece of Shakespearean criticism, early modernist tonal and structural experiment, and a cynical musical commentary on humankind's "failings and sorrows." A satisfactory analysis of the work calls for a discussion of the program, the Shakespearean literary criticism that Elgar based his interpretation on and cited in his own published analysis of the work, and a structural analysis that can make sense both of a variety of generic implications (sonata, rondo, and multimovement deformations) as well as the complex associations between keys, motives, persons, and ideas in the work, together with its overall tonal structure. As this multilayered piece is examined from these different angles, Elgar's interpretation of the character of Sir John Falstaff (as presented by or inferable from Shakespeare) is revealed as an idiosyncratically gloomy view of human relationships and existential possibilities. It is also an intensely personal exploration of late-tonal musical language, its symbolic potential, its structural logic, and its relation to the musical tradition--Elgar's most complex, adventurous, and rewarding.
Regulation of apoptosis in the atresia of dominant bovine follicles of the first follicular wave following ovulation
Authors: Valdez Kelli E , Cuneo S Peder , Turzillo Adele M
Published: June 2005

During atresia of bovine follicles, granulosa cells are lost through the controlled form of cell death, apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to characterize the regulation of apoptotic death of granulosa cells in dominant bovine follicles during the first wave of follicular development. Dominant follicles were collected from Holstein heifers on days 4, 6 or 8 of the first follicular wave (n= 5/day). Regulation of apoptosis in granulosa cells was examined by annexin V and propidium iodide staining; measurement of relative levels of mRNA encoding Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Bax; and activity of caspase-3, -8 and -9. Steady-state levels of mRNA encoding four oxidative stress-response proteins were determined. Compared with day 4, the incidence of apoptotic and nonviable granulosa cells tended to increase on day 6, and numbers of nonviable cells were higher on day 8. The ratios of relative levels of mRNA encoding Bcl-2 to Bax and Bcl-xL to Bax were higher on day 6 than days 4 and 8. Activity of caspases-3 and -9 in granulosa cells did not change among the 3 days, while caspase-8 activity decreased on day 8 compared with days 4 and 6. Amounts of GSHPx, MnSOD and Cu/ZnSOD mRNA in granulosa cells were higher on day 8 than day 6. In theca interna, amounts of Cu/ZnSOD mRNA decreased between days 4 and 6. From the decreased production of estradiol and increased numbers of apoptotic and nonviable granulosa cells, we conclude that atresia of the dominant follicle is initiated between days 4 and 6 of the first follicular wave. However, apoptosis of granulosa cells does not appear to be initiated by changes in expression of oxidative stress-response proteins.
Cytotrophoblast differentiation in the first trimester of pregnancy: evidence for separate progenitors of extravillous trophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblast
Authors: James Joanna L , Stone Peter R , Chamley Lawrence W
Published: June 2005

It is commonly accepted that a single pool of villous cytotrophoblasts are precursors of both syncytiotrophoblast and extravillous trophoblasts during the first trimester. Here we present evidence that these two trophoblast subpopulations arise from separate progenitors that have different survival characteristics when studied in villous explant cultures. Dual staining with chloromethylfluorescin diacetate and ethidium bromide revealed degeneration of the syncytiotrophoblast by non-apoptotic mechanisms within 4 h of culture. The syncytiotrophoblast had regenerated within 48 h but at this point the vast majority of the cytotrophoblast and cells of the mesenchymal core were dead. Despite this extensive cytotrophoblast death, explants are able to produce extravillous trophoblast outgrowth for up to 3 weeks in culture. We believe that the villous cytotrophoblasts in the tips of anchoring villi are resistant to the factors that cause the death of the majority of villous cytotrophoblasts in culture. We speculate that as early as 8 weeks of gestation there are two separate villous cytotrophoblast populations, one committed to differentiate into syncytiotrophoblast and the second committed to the extravillous differentiation pathway
Optimizing Trout Farm Effluent Treatment by Stabilizing Trout Feces: A Field Trial
Authors: Brinker Alexander , Koppe Wolfgang , Rösch Roland
Published: June 2005

The following study investigates the effect of adding guar gum binder to a commercial extruded trout diet (Select P/Trouvit) in a land-based water-flow-through trout farm, analyzing the effects of binder-mediated fecal stabilization with respect to particle size distribution, nutrient retention, and the effectiveness of drum filtration of effluent. The experiments took place in a facility with two raceways of similar size and water flow rate and with similar stocks of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Fish in one raceway were fed Select P, while those in the other raceway received the same diet with the addition of guar gum. When the fish were given feed containing the dietary binder, feces were discharged in visibly and significantly larger particles. Furthermore, in effluent from the raceway in which fish were fed the diet plus binder, the particle-bound fractions of phosphorus and Kjeldahl nitrogen were increased at the expense of the respective dissolved fraction by about 18% and 8%, respectively, possibly reflecting a reduced leaching of nutrients from the larger particles. Drum filter removal efficiency was significantly higher for the effluents from the fish fed the binder-containing diet; for both total suspended solids and total phosphorus there was an improvement of about 40%. For total Kjeldahl nitrogen the improvement was about 17%. For the particulate fraction, removal values were even higher, efficiency improving about 47% for particulate phosphorus and 34% for particulate Kjeldahl nitrogen. The addition of the binder to the trout diet proved to be an effective means of improving mechanical effluent treatment and thus to developing environmentally sound fish production opportunities.
Written Parental Consent in School-Based HIV/AIDS Prevention Research
Authors: Mathews Catherine , Guttmacher Sally J. , Flisher Alan J. , Mtshizana Yolisa , Hani Andiswa , Zwarenstein Merrick
Published: June 2005

Objectives. We examined the process of obtaining “active,” written parental consent for a school-based HIV/AIDS prevention project in a South African high school by investigating (1) parental consent form return rates, (2) parents’ recall and knowledge of the research, and (3) the extent to which this consent procedure represented parents’ wishes about their child’s involvement in the research.

Methods. This cross-sectional descriptive study comprised interviews with parents of children in grades eight and nine in a poor, periurban settlement in Cape Town.

Results. Within 2 weeks, 94% of 258 parents responded to a letter requesting written consent and of those, 93% consented, but subsequent interviews showed that 65% remembered seeing the consent form. At the end of the interview, 99% consented to their child’s participation.

Conclusions. These findings challenge many of the assumptions underlying active written parental consent. However, they should not be used to deny adolescents at high risk of HIV infection the opportunity to participate in prevention trials. Rather, researchers together with the communities in which the research is undertaken need to decide on appropriate informed consent strategies.
Immuno‐Spin Trapping: Detection of Protein‐Centered Radicals
Authors: Ramirez Dario C. , Mason Ronald P.
Published: June 2005

Protein‐centered radicals are involved in biological oxidative damage induced by drugs, environmental hazards, and cellular reactive oxygen species. Presently, the technique most widely used to study protein‐centered radicals is electron spin resonance (ESR; also known as electron paramagnetic resonance, EPR); used either directly or in combination with the spin‐trapping technique. Protein‐centered radicals may be trapped with the nitrone spin trap 5,5‐dimethyl‐1‐pyrroline N‐oxide (DMPO) forming DMPO‐radical adducts. However, after a few minutes these adducts decay, often by oxidation to DMPO‐protein radical–derived nitrone adducts, which are ESR‐silent species. Because nitrone adducts are not free radicals and their formation involves the creation of a covalent linkage, they are stable long after the ESR signal decays. In the new alternative technique of immuno‐spin trapping, nitrone adducts are detected by using an antibody, i.e., anti‐DMPO, that recognizes their nitrone moiety. Immuno‐spin trapping is a simple, reliable, affordable, sensitive, and specific approach to detecting protein‐centered radicals, and its development brings the power of immunoassays to bear on the field of toxicology of free radical–mediated biological damage.
Guide for Resin and Linker Selection in Solid‐Phase Peptide Synthesis
Authors: Moss Jason A.
Published: June 2005

For both novice and experienced practitioners of solid‐phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), the vast selection of commercially available linkers and resins has become something of a babel. The purpose of this unit is to clarify the situation, which is best understood by distillation to first principles, through an appreciation of chemical trends and consequences, as well as practical considerations. The most commonly used linkers and resins are presented and described in detail, along with a description of their development and common applications. Key protocols are provided so that the user may prepare appropriate linker‐functionalized resins for the majority of peptide synthesis applications.
Synthesis of chloromethylstyrene‐tetraethyleneglycol dimethacrylate copolymer beads having various phenolic derivatives immobilized via amide bond and their antioxidation activity
Authors: Nonaka Takamasa , Maeda Shuuji , Ogata Tomonari , Nakashima Satoko , Kawasaki Tomonori , Kurihara Seiji
Published: June 2005

Resins having phenolic derivatives were prepared by treating a resin (RAS‐4G), having benzylamino groups, with benzoic acids containing phenolic hydroxyl groups. The RAS‐4G was prepared by treating macroreticular chloromethylstyrene‐tetraethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (4G) copolymer beads with potassium phthalimide in N,N‐dimethylformamide, followed by reflux in an ethanol/hydrazine monohydrate mixture. 4‐Hydroxy benzoic acid, (2,4‐, 3,4‐, and 3,5‐)dihydroxy benzoic acids, 3,4,5‐trihydroxy benzoic acid, etc., were used as benzoic acids with phenolic hydroxyl groups. The antioxidation ability of the resins having phenolic derivatives was investigated against the generation of 1,4‐dioxane hydroperoxide. The resins showed high inhibition ability against the generation of hydroperoxide. In particular, the resin (RAS‐4G‐3,4‐DHBA) having two phenolic hydroxyl groups had the highest inhibition ability. The resins were found to act as radical scavengers during the generation of 1,4‐dioxane hydroperoxide by UV irradiation in the presence of oxygen. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2097–2104, 2005
Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto biomedical polyvinyl chloride initiated by Ce(IV)–glucose redox system
Authors: Mohanty H. , Singh B. C.
Published: June 2005

Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto PVC was carried out using Ce(IV)–glucose redox system in aqueous sulfuric acid medium under nitrogen atmosphere. To find out the optimum conditions for grafting, effects of concentrations of metal ion, glucose, monomer, and acid on the percentage of grafting was studied. The graft yield was found to be influenced by reaction time, temperature, and amount of PVC. An appreciably high graft yield could be achieved with the present system. On the basis of the results from the present study, a plausible reaction mechanism has been proposed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2105–2111, 2005
Effect of fluorinated acrylate on the surface properties of cationic fluorinated polyurethane‐acrylate hybrid dispersions
Authors: Li Ganghui , Shen Yiding , Ren Qinghai
Published: June 2005

Cationic fluorinated polyurethane‐acrylate hybrid dispersions were prepared by the copolymerization of styrene, butyl acrylate, and 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4‐hexafluorobutyl methacrylate in the medium of crosslinked polyurethane via phase inversion polymerization. The said polyurethane was synthesized in acetone from 2, 4‐tolyene diisocyanate, with N‐methyldiethanolamine as a hydrophilic chain‐extender, trimethylolpropane as a crosslinker, and soft polyester diol block. The surface properties, immersion behaviors, particle size, and Zeta potential of the dispersions were investigated. The results show that the particle size of the dispersion particle is less than 450 nm and the Zeta potential is more than 32.0 mV. The addition of fluorinated acrylate can decrease surface free energy by more than 47.43%, and FPUA films cured at ambient conditions have lower surface free energy (less than 0.02,002 J/m2). At the same time, there is an obvious mobility of fluorinated groups in the fluorinated polymer films. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2192–2196, 2005
Cocrystallization behavior of poly(n‐docosyl acrylate) with n‐docosanoic acid by X‐ray and differential scanning calorimetry studies
Authors: Saikia Prakash J. , Dass Narendra N. , Baruah Shashi D.
Published: June 2005

Cocrystallization behavior of comb‐like poly(n‐docosyl acrylate) (PDA) with n‐docosanoic acid (C22) has been studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The DSC curves of blended samples of neat PDA with C22 show the characteristic melting endotherms that correspond to the melting of the crystallites. DSC measurements of PDA/C22 blends also suggest the existence of another crystalline form induced by the addition of the C22. From the XRD measurements, the existence of hexagonally‐packed crystalline lattice and the phase behavior of PDA/C22 blends at different mole percent are confirmed. Thermal degradation behavior of PDA and its corresponding blends with C22 is studied by thermogravimetric analysis. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2140–2146, 2005
Kinetic study of the atom transfer radical polymerization of n‐docosyl acrylate
Authors: Saikia Prakash J. , Dass Narendra N. , Baruah Shashi D.
Published: June 2005

The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of n‐docosyl acrylate (DA) was studied at 80°C in N,N‐dimethylformamide using the carbon tetrabromide/FeCl3/2,2′‐bipyridine (bpy) initiator system in the presence of 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the source of reducing agent. The rate of polymerization exhibits first‐order kinetics with respect to the monomer. The linear relationship between the molecular weight of the resulting poly(n‐docosyl acrylate) with conversion and the narrow polydispersity of the polymers indicates the living characteristics of the polymerization reaction. The significant effect of AIBN on the ATRP of DA was studied keeping [FeCl3]/[bpy] constant. A probable reaction mechanism for the polymerization system is postulated to explain the observed results. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2147–2154, 2005
The effects of carbonization temperature on the properties and structure of PAN‐based activated carbon hollow fiber
Authors: Sun Junfen , Wu Guangxiang , Wang Qingrui
Published: June 2005

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hollow fibers were pretreated with ammonium dibasic phosphate and then further oxidized in air, carbonized in nitrogen, and activated with carbon dioxide. The effects of carbonization temperature of PAN hollow fiber precursor on the microstructure, specific surface, pore‐size distribution, and adsorption properties of PAN‐based carbon hollow fiber (PAN‐CHF) and PAN‐based activated carbon hollow fibers (PAN‐ACHF) were studied in this work. After the activation process, the surface area of the PAN‐ACHF increased very remarkably, reaching 900 m2 g−1 when carbonization is 1000°C, and the adsorption ratios to creatinine and VB12 of ACHF were much higher than those of CHF, especially to VB12. The different adsorption ratios to two adsorbates including creatinine and VB12 reflect the number of micropores and mesopores in PAN‐ACHF. The dominant pore sizes of mesopores in PAN‐ACHF are from 2 to 5 nm. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2155–2160, 2005
Alkylated hyperbranched polymers as molecular nanosponges for the purification of water from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Authors: Arkas Michael , Eleades Lazaros , Paleos Constantinos M. , Tsiourvas Dimitris
Published: June 2005

A series of hyperbranched polymers functionalized with long aliphatic chains has been prepared and characterized. The property of films prepared from these polymers to encapsulate lipophilic polyaromatic pollutants dissolved in water has been established. The level of pyrene and fluoranthene remaining in water after treatment ranged from 1 to 30 ppb for most of the hyperbranched polymers, while for the relatively more water‐soluble phenanthrene a final concentration of about 50 to 70 ppb could be attained. The inclusion formation constants determined for the polycyclic aromatics were 2.0 × 108–6.3 × 106 M−1 for pyrene, 1.2 × 107–1.6 × 106 M−1 for fluoranthene, and 3.8 × 106–4 × 105 M−1 for phenanthrene. The loading capacities depend on the nature of the polycyclic aromatic compounds and the chemical structure of the parent hyperbranched polymers, ranging from 6 to 31 mg/g of polymer for fluoranthene, 15–54 mg/g for phenanthrene, and 6–35 mg/g for pyrene. Regeneration of the absorbing films was achieved by their treatment with acetonitrile. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 2299–2305, 2005
A transporter for phenolamine uptake in the arthropod CNS
Authors: Donly B. Cameron , Caveney Stanley
Published: June 2005

Biogenic monoamines play central roles in the nervous control of physiological processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates, each using a suite of neurotransmitters tailored through evolution. Among the ancillary proteins necessary for the deployment of monoamine transmitters are membrane‐bound transporters that enable the reuptake of synaptically released transmitters. Transporters responsible for monoamine uptake include a novel transporter discovered in a pest insect, the cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni, which has high affinity for the phenolamines octopamine and tyramine. Sequence analysis suggests that this transporter has no direct ortholog in the sequenced genomes of model invertebrates. We report here a preliminary investigation into the true extent of the distribution of this type of transporter using RT‐PCR with a set of degenerate primers selective for monoamine transporters on cDNAs made from the nervous systems of a range of arthropods. PCR products encoding the N‐terminal region of orthologs of this transporter were detected in a variety of insect orders, as well as in a crustacean, but were not found in representatives of either the Diptera or the Hymenoptera. Thus, although this transporter is widely expressed in invertebrates, there are various invertebrates that appear to have evolved alternate ways of recycling phenolamine neurotransmitters released at the nerve synapse. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 59:172–183, 2005. Canadian Crown Copyright 2005 Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Molecular characterization of the ebony gene from the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana
Authors: Blenau Wolfgang , Baumann Arnd
Published: June 2005

Biogenic amines are an important class of primary messengers in the central (CNS) and peripheral nervous systems and in peripheral organs. These substances regulate and modulate many physiological and behavioral processes. Various inactivation mechanisms for these substances exist to terminate biogenic amine‐mediated signal transduction. In vertebrates, the enzymes monoamine oxidase and/or catechol‐O‐methyl‐transferase are involved in these processes. In insects, however, in which both enzymes are low in abundance or absent, biogenic amines are inactivated mainly by N‐acetylation or O‐sulphation. In Drosophila, β‐alanyl conjugation mediated by the Ebony protein has recently been shown to be a novel and alternative pathway for biogenic amine inactivation. Here, we report the cloning of ebony cDNA (Peaebony) from a brain‐specific cDNA library of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. The open reading frame encodes a protein of 860 amino acid residues (PeaEbony). The PeaEbony polypeptide shares homology to Ebony sequences from Anopheles gambiae, Apis mellifera, and Drosophila melanogaster. In addition, PeaEbony exhibits sequence similarity to a family of microbial non‐ribosomal peptide synthetases. The mRNA encoding PeaEbony is highly expressed in the cockroach brain and to a lesser extent in the salivary glands. PeaEbony is, therefore, probably involved in the inactivation of various biogenic amines through β‐alanyl conjugation in the cockroach CNS. Since the salivary glands in Periplaneta are innervated by dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons, PeaEbony probably also biochemically modifies dopamine and serotonin in these acinar glands. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 59:184–195, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Development and validation of a clinical index for assessment of long‐term damage in juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Authors: Viola Stefania , Felici Enrico , Magni‐Manzoni Silvia , Pistorio Angela , Buoncompagni Antonella , Ruperto Nicolino , Rossi Federica , Bartoli Manuela , Martini Alberto , Ravelli Angelo
Published: June 2005

Objective

To develop and validate a clinical measure of articular and extraarticular damage in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods

The Juvenile Arthritis Damage Index (JADI), which is derived from physical examination and a brief review of the patient's clinical history, is composed of 2 parts: assessments of articular damage (JADI‐A) and extraarticular damage (JADI‐E). Instrument validation was accomplished by evaluating 158 JIA patients with disease duration of at least 5 years, seen consecutively over 21 months. The instrument's feasibility, face and content validity, construct and discriminative ability, internal consistency, and interrater reliability were examined.

Results

Among the 158 JIA patients, 47% and 37% had articular and extraarticular damage, respectively. The JADI was found to be feasible and to possess both face and content validity. The JADI‐A score correlated highly with the number of joints with limited range of motion (Spearman's r [rS] = 0.72) and correlated moderately with the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire score (rS = 0.41), Steinbrocker functional classification (rS = 0.50), and Poznanski's score of radiographic damage (rS = −0.54), thereby demonstrating good construct validity. Correlations with the JADI‐E score were lower, owing to the heterogeneity of its items. The JADI‐A discriminated well among different levels of disability. The internal consistency (Chronbach's alpha) of the JADI‐A and JADI‐E was 0.93 and 0.59, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficients between pairs of independent observers ranged from 0.85 to 0.97.

Conclusion

The JADI exhibited good reliability, construct validity, and discriminative ability and is therefore a valid instrument for the assessment of long‐term damage in patients with JIA, in the context of both clinical management and research settings.
Lack of support for the presence of an osteoarthritis susceptibility locus on chromosome 6p
Authors: Meenagh Gary K. , McGibbon David , Nixon James , Wright Gary D. , Doherty Michael , Hughes Anne E.
Published: June 2005

Objective

To replicate, in a Northern Irish population, the previously reported association between a locus on chromosome 6 and hip osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods

Patients with hip OA were identified from a registry of patients who had undergone total hip replacement surgery over an 8‐year period at a single large orthopedic unit in Northern Ireland. Patients identified as index cases were contacted by mail and asked to reply only if another family member also had undergone total hip replacement surgery. Using this approach, we identified 288 sibling pairs concordant for primary hip OA. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood, and microsatellite markers were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and subsequently genotyped.

Results

No evidence of linkage to this region was demonstrated by either 2‐point analysis or multipoint analysis of 17 microsatellites.

Conclusion

The reported association between a locus on chromosome 6 and hip OA could not be confirmed in this population. Different methods of ascertainment and phenotyping of OA may contribute to the current inability to replicate genetic associations for hip OA.
Effects of doxycycline on progression of osteoarthritis: Results of a randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind trial
Authors: Brandt Kenneth D. , Mazzuca Steven A. , Katz Barry P. , Lane Kathleen A. , Buckwalter Kenneth A. , Yocum David E. , Wolfe Frederick , Schnitzer Thomas J. , Moreland Larry W. , Manzi Susan , Bradley John D. , Sharma Leena , Oddis Chester V. , Hugenberg Steven T. , Heck Louis W.
Published: June 2005

Objective

To confirm preclinical data suggesting that doxycycline can slow the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). The primary outcome measure was joint space narrowing (JSN) in the medial tibiofemoral compartment.

Methods

In this placebo‐controlled trial, obese women (n = 431) ages 45–64 years with unilateral radiographic knee OA were randomly assigned to receive 30 months of treatment with 100 mg doxycycline or placebo twice a day. Tibiofemoral JSN was measured manually in fluoroscopically standardized radiographic examinations performed at baseline, 16 months, and 30 months. Severity of joint pain was recorded at 6‐month intervals.

Results

Seventy‐one percent of all randomized subjects completed the trial. Radiographs were obtained from 85% of all randomized subjects at 30 months. Adherence to the dosing regimen was 91.8% among subjects who completed the study per protocol. After 16 months of treatment, the mean ± SD loss of joint space width in the index knee in the doxycycline group was 40% less than that in the placebo group (0.15 ± 0.42 mm versus 0.24 ± 0.54 mm); after 30 months, it was 33% less (0.30 ± 0.60 mm versus 0.45 ± 0.70 mm). Doxycycline did not reduce the mean severity of joint pain, although pain scores in both treatment groups were low at baseline and remained low throughout the trial, suggesting the presence of a floor effect. However, the frequency of followup visits at which the subject reported a ≥20% increase in pain in the index knee, relative to the previous visit, was reduced among those receiving doxycycline. In contrast, doxycycline did not have an effect on either JSN or pain in the contralateral knee. In both treatment groups, subjects who reported a ≥20% increase in knee pain at the majority of their followup visits had more rapid JSN than those whose pain did not increase.

Conclusion

Doxycycline slowed the rate of JSN in knees with established OA. Its lack of effect on JSN in the contralateral knee suggests that pathogenetic mechanisms in that joint were different from those in the index knee.
BAFF overexpression and accelerated glomerular disease in mice with an incomplete genetic predisposition to systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Stohl William , Xu Dong , Kim Kyoung Soo , Koss Michael N. , Jorgensen Trine N. , Deocharan Bisram , Metzger Troy E. , Bixler Sarah A. , Hong Yeon Sik , Ambrose Christine M. , Mackay Fabienne , Morel Laurence , Putterman Chaim , Kotzin Brian L. , Kalled Susan L.
Published: June 2005

Objective

To determine whether overexpression of BAFF can accelerate the development of systemic lupus erythematosus–associated end‐organ disease in hosts with an underlying autoimmune diathesis.

Methods

We introduced a BAFF transgene (Tg) into autoimmune‐prone B6.Sle1 and B6.Nba2 mice and evaluated these mice for serologic autoimmunity and renal pathology.

Results

B6.Sle1.BAFF and B6.Nba2.BAFF mice, but not non‐Tg littermates, frequently developed severe glomerular pathology by 3 months of age. Age‐matched B6.BAFF mice, despite renal Ig deposits and increases in B cells and Ig production similar to those in B6.Sle1.BAFF and B6.Nba2.BAFF mice, did not develop glomerular pathology. In B6.Sle1.BAFF and B6.Nba2.BAFF mice, severity of glomerular disease did not obligately correlate with circulating levels of IgG antichromatin and/or anti–double‐stranded DNA antibodies or with amounts of these autoantibodies deposited in the kidneys. Even in mice with severe glomerular disease, renal tubulointerstitial infiltrates were very limited, and increased proteinuria was not detected.

Conclusion

BAFF‐driven effects on glomerular pathology may be mediated, at least in part, by autoantibodies with specificities other than chromatin and/or by autoantibody‐independent means. There is an uncoupling of BAFF‐driven precocious glomerular pathology from concomitant development of clinically apparent renal disease, strongly suggesting that BAFF overexpression works in concert with other factors to promote overt renal disease.