bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultraviolet radiation‐B‐induced cataract in albino rats: maximum tolerable dose and ascorbate consumption
Authors: Mody Vino C. , Kakar Manoj , Elfving Åse , Söderberg Per G. , Löfgren Stefan
Published: April 2006

Purpose:  To investigate the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) for cataract induced by ultraviolet radiation‐B (UVB) in 7‐week‐old albino rats and to study the effect of UVB eye exposure on lens ascorbate content.

Methods:  Fifty 7‐week‐old albino Sprague Dawley rats were unilaterally exposed in vivo to 300‐nm UVB under anaesthesia, receiving 0, 0.25, 3.5, 4.3 and 4.9 kJ/m2. The MTD was estimated based on lens forward light scattering measurements. Lens ascorbate content was determined in the processed lens using high performance liquid chromatography with UVR detection.

Results:  Animals exposed to UVB doses ≥3.5 kJ/m2 developed cortical cataracts. The MTD for avoidance of UVB‐induced cataract was estimated to 3.01 kJ/m2. UVB exposure decreased lens ascorbate concentration in the exposed lens in line with UVB dose, He, according to the models: C = CNonCo + CCoe−kHe for exposed lenses; C = CNonCo + CCo for non‐exposed lenses, and Cd = CCo(e−kHe − 1). Parameters for consumable and non‐consumable ascorbate were estimated to CNonCo = 0.04 and CCo = 0.11 µmol/g wet weight of lens. For lens ascorbate difference, τ = 1/k = 0.86 kJ/m2. A total of 63% of UVB consumable ascorbate has been consumed after only τ = 0.86 kJ/m2, while MTD2.3 : 16 = 3.01 kJ/m2, indicating that ascorbate decrease is in the order of 3.5 times more sensitive to detecting UVR damage in the lens than forward light scattering.

Conclusions:  The MTD for avoidance of UVB‐induced cataract in the 7‐week‐old albino Sprague Dawley rat was estimated to be 3.01 kJ/m2. In vivo UVB exposure of the rat eye decreases lens ascorbate content following an exponential decline, and suprathreshold doses cause greater effect than subthreshold doses.
Are Androgens Critical for Penile Erections in Humans? Examining the Clinical and Preclinical Evidence
Authors: Traish Abdulmaged M. , Guay André T.
Published: April 2006

Androgens are deemed critical for penile-tissue development, growth, and maintenance of erectile function, however, their role in erection, especially in humans, remains controversial. In this review, we summarize information from clinical and animal model studies to provide a comprehensive and rational argument for the role of androgens, or lack thereof, on penile erection ability in humans. The goal of this review is to present the clinical and preclinical evidence available in the literature with regard to testosterone and erectile physiology and engage the reader in this discussion. Ultimately, each reader will have to form his or her own conclusions based on the existing evidence.

In humans, androgen-deficiency manifestations are noted in clinical situations such as: (i) inadequate development of the penis; and (ii) loss of erectile function in prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia patients managed with medical or surgical castration or antiandrogen therapy. Androgen treatment causes: (i) improvement in sexual function in hypogonadal patients treated with androgen supplementation; (ii) improvement in nocturnal penile tumescence in hypogonadal patients treated with androgens; (iii) improvement in erectile function with androgen supplementation in patients who did not respond to phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor therapy initially; and (iv) improvement in the well-being, mood, energy, and sexual function in aging men who have testosterone deficiency treated with androgen therapy. In contrast to animals, especially rodents in which the adrenal cortex does not synthesize androgens, the human adrenal is a source of peripherally circulating androgen precursors, thus, complete androgen insufficiency may not be observed in men at a younger age. Furthermore, in light of the concept that a threshold of androgen levels exists in animals and humans below which sexual function is diminished, further contributes to the complexity of understanding androgens role in erections, especially in humans. Nevertheless, based on the preclinical and clinical data available in the literature, to date, we infer that androgens play a critical role in maintaining erectile physiology in humans.
Female Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: History and Current Status
Authors: Segraves Robert , Woodard Terri
Published: April 2006

Introduction

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is a common problem that is often treatment refractory. This refractoriness to treatment is reflective of our lack of knowledge concerning the determinants of sexual libido in women.

Aim

To review the development and current status of information concerning the diagnosis and treatment of HSDD.

Methodology

Literature on HSDD published between 1950 and 2005 was reviewed.

Results

Historically, HSDD was considered to be a psychiatric disorder. Thus, the diagnostic criteria utilized in studies of interventions for this disorder are based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. This system was never designed to encompass organic causes of sexual dysfunction and has evolved by expert opinion. If the syndrome is poorly defined by these diagnostic criteria, this could limit progress in this field. Epidemiological studies have found that approximately 24–43% of women complain of low sexual desire in the preceding year. The percentage of the population meeting diagnostic criteria for HSDD is probably much lower. There has been considerable progress in the development of psychometrically sound instruments for the assessment of libido. The development of approaches to treatment was reviewed. Approaches to treatment have evolved in three major areas: psychological, hormonal, and use of psychopharmacological agents. There is some evidence of efficacy utilizing all three approaches. The major evidence of efficacy concerns the use of testosterone therapy. Long-term safety data concerning this treatment are absent.

Conclusion

There is a rapidly expanding knowledge base concerning the diagnosis and treatment of HSDD. However, the contemporary clinician is faced with the absence of an approved treatment for this disorder and the lack of clear guidelines concerning the indications and safety of the use of non-approved agents.
ELISA methods detect HLA antibodies with variable sensitivity
Authors: Monien S. , Salama A. , Schönemann C.
Published: April 2006

The accuracy of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody screening results is dependent on the technique employed. In this study, a total of 612 serum samples from patients awaiting kidney transplantation were tested by two different enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods: LAT‐M® (One Lambda/BMT) and AbScreen® (Biotest). The results of these assays were identical for HLA class I and II antibodies in 524 cases (85.6%), and discrepant in the remaining 88 cases (42 class I, 24 class II, 22 class I and II). More specifically, class I results were in agreement in 26 positive and 522 negative cases and in disagreement in 64 cases. Class II results were the same in 50 positive and 516 negative cases and different in 46 cases. Retesting the samples using LAT 1288 (One Lambda/BMT) and considering previous HLA antibody test results and the history of immunising events, the sensitivity and specificity, respectively, of the two methods were determined as follows: class I: 89.6% and 97.5% (LAT‐M) vs. 70.6% and 96.8% (AbScreen), class II: 96.5% and 98.4% (LAT‐M) vs. 88.3% and 95.5% (AbScreen). These results indicate that a single ELISA does not invariably prove or exclude the presence of HLA antibodies, and that additional testing is required in some cases.
Moment of Inertia Without Integrals
Authors: Oostra Benjamin
Published: April 2006

Here at the Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá) we teach physics to first-year science and engineering students who have not yet completed their calculus courses. Derivatives and integrals are introduced in the kinematics lessons before they are studied more formally in math classes. Even toward the end of the first physics course, when we arrive at the subject of rotation, integrals are not yet very familiar but usually they are a must for computing moments of inertia. For some objects, however, there is an alternative.
PION PRODUCTION AND COLLECTIVE FLOW EFFECTS IN INTERMEDIATE ENERGY NUCLEUS–NUCLEUS COLLISIONS
Authors: SAEED-UDDIN  , AKHTAR NASEEM , ALI MAZHAR
Published: April 2006

Invoking the formation of a fireball we analyze the experimental data on pion multiplicity from La + La collision at [Formula: see text] and its kinetic energy spectrum. We discuss the freeze-out scenario, the possible role of the delta and strange particles and whether the hadronic repulsion (leading to an excluded volume effect) plays any role at the thermochemical and the hydrodynamical freeze-out stage. The importance of collective flow is realized in explaining the pion spectrum at this collision energy. The analysis also provides evidence of the presence of strange particles and the delta resonance in partial chemical equilibrium, at an initial chemical freeze-out stage when the hydrodynamic flow has not developed to have any significant effect. At the final "hydrodynamical freeze-out" we do not find any evidence of the deltas and the strange particles when the thermal temperature has dropped considerably. The importance of the collective flow vis a vis the resonance decay contribution is also discussed in explaining the pion kinetic energy spectra. Further, all the model parameters are determined uniquely, unlike previous analysis, thus avoiding any arbitrariness.
INVESTIGATING PSEUDOSCALAR AND SCALAR DARK MATTER
Authors: BERNABEI R. , BELLI P. , MONTECCHIA F. , NOZZOLI F. , CAPPELLA F. , INCICCHITTI A. , PROSPERI D. , CERULLI R. , DAI C. J. , HE H. L. , KUANG H. H. , MA J. M. , YE Z. P.
Published: April 2006

In this paper another class of Dark Matter candidate particles — the pseudoscalar and scalar light bosonic candidates — is discussed. Particular care is devoted to the study of the processes for their detection (which only involves electrons and photons/X-rays) in a suitable underground experimental setup. For this purpose the needed calculations are developed and various related aspects and phenomenologies are discussed. In particular, it is shown that — in addition to the WIMP cases already discussed elsewhere — there is also possibility for a bosonic candidate to account for the 6.3σ C.L. model independent evidence for the presence of a particle DM component in the galactic halo observed by DAMA/ NaI . Allowed regions in these scenarios are presented also paying particular care on the cosmological interest of the bosonic candidate.
Evidence from knockout mice against physiologically significant aquaporin 8-facilitated ammonia transport
Authors: Yang Baoxue , Zhao Dan , Solenov Eugene , Verkman A. S.
Published: April 2006

Aquaporin (AQP)8-facilitated transport of NH3 has been suggested recently by increased NH3 permeability in Xenopus oocytes and yeast expressing human or rat AQP8. We tested the proposed roles of AQP8-facilitated NH3 transport in mammalian physiology by comparative phenotype studies in wild-type vs. AQP8-null mice. AQP8-facilitated NH3 transport was confirmed in mammalian cell cultures expressing rat or mouse AQP8, in which the fluorescence of a pH-sensing yellow fluorescent protein was measured in response to ammonia (NH3/NH4+) gradients. Relative AQP8 single-channel NH3-to-water permeability was ∼0.03. AQP8-facilitated NH3 and water permeability in a native tissue was confirmed in membrane vesicles isolated from testes of wild-type vs. AQP8-null mice, in which BCECF was used as an intravesicular pH indicator. A series of in vivo studies were done in mice, including 1) serum ammonia measurements before and after ammonia infusion, 2) renal ammonia clearance, 3) colonic ammonia absorption, and 4) liver ammonia accumulation and renal ammonia excretion after acute and chronic ammonia loading. Except for a small reduction in hepatic ammonia accumulation and increase in ammonia excretion in AQP8-null mice loaded with large amounts of ammonia, there were no significant differences in wild-type vs. AQP8-null mice. Our results support the conclusion that AQP8 can facilitate NH3 transport but provide evidence against physiologically significant AQP8-facilitated NH3 transport in mice.
Effect of low-level laser (Ga-Al-As 655 nm) on skeletal muscle fatigue induced by electrical stimulation in rats
Authors: Lopes-Martins Rodrigo Álvaro B. , Marcos Rodrigo Labat , Leonardo Patrícia Sardinha , Prianti Antônio Carlos , Muscará Marcelo Nicolas , Aimbire Flavio , Frigo Lúcio , Iversen Vegard V. , Bjordal Jan Magnus
Published: April 2006

We investigated whether low-level laser therapy (LLLT) can reduce muscular fatigue during tetanic contractions in rats. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were divided into four groups receiving either one of three different LLLT doses (0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 J/cm2) or a no-treatment control group. Electrical stimulation was used to induce six tetanic muscle contractions in the tibial anterior muscle. Contractions were stopped when the muscle force fell to 50% of the initial value for each contraction (T50%). There was no significant difference between the 2.5 J/cm2 laser-irradiated group and the control group in mean T50% values. Laser-irradiated groups (0.5 and 1.0 J/cm2) had significantly longer T50% values than the control group. The relative peak force for the sixth contraction in the laser-irradiated groups were significantly higher at 92.2% (SD 12.6) for 0.5 J/cm2, 83.2% (SD 20.5) for 1.0 J/cm2, and 82.9% (SD 18.3) for 2.5 J/cm2 than for the control group [50% (SD 15)]. Laser groups receiving 0.5 and 1.0 J/cm2 showed significant increases in mean performed work compared with both the control group and their first contraction values. Muscle damage was indirectly measured by creatine kinase levels in plasma. A distinct dose-response pattern was found in which 1.0 and 2.5 J/cm2 LLLT groups had significantly lower creatine kinase levels than the 0.5 J/cm2 LLLT group and the control group. We conclude that LLLT doses of 0.5 and 1.0 J/cm2 can prevent development of muscular fatigue in rats during repeated tetanic contractions.
Effects of chronic NaHCO3 ingestion during interval training on changes to muscle buffer capacity, metabolism, and short-term endurance performance
Authors: Edge Johann , Bishop David , Goodman Carmel
Published: April 2006

This study determined the effects of altering the H+ concentration during interval training, by ingesting NaHCO3 (Alk-T) or a placebo (Pla-T), on changes in muscle buffer capacity (βm), endurance performance, and muscle metabolites. Pre- and posttraining peak O2 uptake (V̇o2 peak), lactate threshold (LT), and time to fatigue at 100% pretraining V̇o2 peak intensity were assessed in 16 recreationally active women. Subjects were matched on the LT, were randomly placed into the Alk-T ( n = 8) or Pla-T ( n = 8) groups, and performed 8 wk (3 days/wk) of six to twelve 2-min cycle intervals at 140–170% of their LT, ingesting NaHCO3 or a placebo before each training session (work matched between groups). Both groups had improvements in βm (19 vs. 9%; P < 0.05) and V̇o2 peak (22 vs. 17%; P < 0.05) after the training period, with no differences between groups. There was a significant correlation between pretraining βm and percent change in βm ( r = −0.70, P < 0.05). There were greater improvements in both the LT (26 vs. 15%; P = 0.05) and time to fatigue (164 vs. 123%; P = 0.05) after Alk-T, compared with Pla-T. There were no changes to pre- or postexercise ATP, phosphocreatine, creatine, and intracellular lactate concentrations, or pHi after training. Our findings suggest that training intensity, rather than the accumulation of H+ during training, may be more important to improvements in βm. The group ingesting NaHCO3 before each training session had larger improvements in the LT and endurance performance, possibly because of a reduced metabolic acidosis during training and a greater improvement in muscle oxidative capacity.
Increased propensity for apnea in response to acute elevations in left atrial pressure during sleep in the dog
Authors: Chenuel Bruno J. , Smith Curtis A. , Skatrud James B. , Henderson Kathleen S. , Dempsey Jerome A.
Published: April 2006

Periodic breathing is commonly observed in chronic heart failure (CHF) when pulmonary capillary wedge pressure is abnormally high and there is usually concomitant tachypneic hyperventilation. We hypothesized that acute pulmonary hypertension at pressures encountered in CHF and involving all of the lungs and pulmonary vessels would predispose to apnea/unstable breathing during sleep. We tested this in a chronically instrumented, unanesthetized dog model during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Pulmonary hypertension was created by partial occlusion of the left atrium by means of an implanted balloon catheter in the atrial lumen. Raising mean left atrial pressure by 5.7 ± 1.1 Torr resulted immediately in tachypneic hyperventilation [breathing frequency increased significantly from 13.8 to 19.9 breaths/min; end-tidal Pco2 (PetCO2) fell significantly from 38.5 to 35.9 Torr]. This tachypneic hyperventilation was present during wakefulness, NREM sleep, and rapid eye movement sleep. In NREM sleep, this increase in left atrial pressure increased the gain of the ventilatory response to CO2 below eupnea (1.3 to 2.2 l·min−1·Torr−1) and thereby narrowed the CO2 reserve [PetCO2 (apneic threshold) − PetCO2 (eupnea)], despite the decreased plant gain resulting from the hyperventilation. We conclude that acute pulmonary hypertension during sleep results in a narrowed CO2 reserve and thus predisposes toward apnea/unstable breathing and may, therefore, contribute to the breathing instability observed in CHF.
Ethanol Potentiates GABAergic Synaptic Transmission in a Postsynaptic Neuron/Synaptic Bouton Preparation From Basolateral Amygdala
Authors: Zhu Ping Jun , Lovinger David M.
Published: April 2006

Interactions between ethanol and synaptic transmission mediated by γ -amino- N-butyric acid (GABA) have been suggested to contribute to alcohol intoxication. Ethanol effects on postsynaptic GABAA receptors have been the major focus of this line of research. There is increasing evidence that ethanol potentiation of GABAergic transmission involves increased GABA release from presynaptic terminals. In the present study, a mechanically isolated neuron/bouton preparation from the basolateral amygdala was used to examine the effects of ethanol on spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents elicited by GABA release from the presynaptic terminals. We found that ethanol application produced a rapid increase in the frequency of spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents. An acute tolerance to ethanol was also observed, and this tolerance involved GABAB receptor activation. The ethanol-induced potentiation did not involve alterations in the function of postsynaptic GABAA receptors and was independent of presynaptic action potential firing. These findings indicate that ethanol potentiates GABA release, most likely via a direct action on presynaptic boutons.
Quasilinearization for the periodic boundary value problem for systems of impulsive differential equations
Authors: Hristova S. G. , Vatsala A. S.
Published: April 2006

The method of generalized quasilinearization for the system of
nonlinear impulsive differential equations with periodic boundary
conditions is studied. As a byproduct, the result for the system
without impulses can be obtained, which is a new result as well.
Tunable Channel Drop Filter in a Two‐Dimensional Photonic Crystal Modulated by a Nematic Liquid Crystal
Authors: Liu Chen-Yang , Chen Lien-Wen
Published: April 2006

Photonic crystals (PCs) have many potential applications because
of their ability to control light‐wave propagation and because
PC‐based waveguides may be integrated into optical circuits. We
propose a novel tunable PC channel drop filter based on nematic
liquid crystals and investigate its properties numerically by
using the finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) method. The refractive indices of liquid crystals can be actively modulated
after infiltrating nematic liquid crystals into the microcavity in
PC waveguides with square lattices. Then we can control light
propagation in a PC waveguide. We analyze the Q‐factors and
resonance frequencies of a tunable PC channel drop filter by
considering various indices modulation of liquid crystals. The
novel component can be used as wavelength division multiplexing in
photonic integrated circuits.
Circulating sCD138 and Some Angiogenesis‐Involved Cytokines Help to Anticipate the Disease Progression of Early‐Stage B‐Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Authors: Wołowiec Dariusz , Dybko Jarosław , Wróbel Tomasz , Urbaniak-Kujda Donata , Jaźwiec Bożena , Tomaszewska-Toporska Beata , Kapelko-Słowik Katarzyna , Potoczek Stanisław , Kuliczkowski Kazimierz
Published: April 2006

Syndecan‐1 (CD138) is a transmembrane heparin sulfate proteoglycan expressed on distinct stages of differentiation of B‐lymphoid cells. Its prognostic value in B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B‐CLL) has not been evaluated so far. The serum concentration of sCD138 and some angiogenesis‐involved cytokines: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basis fibroblast growth
factor (bFGF), and endostatin were studied in 52 previously untreated patients with B‐CLL. We found that bFGF and sCD138 levels were significantly higher in B‐CLL patients than in controls. In patients with sCD138 level or endostatin level below the median value the lymphocyte count was higher than in patients with serum level of those cytokines above the median value. In patients with progressive disease bFGF level was significantly higher and sCD138 level significantly lower than in patients with stable one. Moreover, high sCD138 level was associated with longer
lymphocyte doubling‐free survival, and, on the limit of statistical significance, a high endostatin level was associated
with shorter progression‐free survival. We conclude that serum sCD138 level is increased in early stage B‐CLL patients and may have a positive prognostic value as to the dynamics of the disease.
Stereotactic Targeting of the Ventrointermediate Nucleus of the Thalamus by Direct Visualization with High-Field MRI
Authors: Spiegelmann Roberto , Nissim Ouzi , Daniels Diana , Ocherashvilli Aharon , Mardor Yael
Published: April 2006

Objective: To evaluate the ability of high-field MRI to consistently produce high-resolution, anatomical images of the thalamic ventrointermediate nucleus (Vim) suitable for stereotactic targeting. Methods: MR images of the thalamus of patients treated for essential tremor were acquired prior to treatment using a 3-tesla MR system. Similar images were acquired in 6 volunteers using, for comparison, both a 1.5-tesla and a 3.0-tesla system. Results: The thalamic Vim was clearly and consistently delineated on the 3-tesla images. These images were successfully used for target localization in essential tremor patients. In the volunteers data, images acquired using the 1.5-tesla system were inferior to those acquired using the 3-tesla system, lacking the ability to consistently provide reliably defined borders of the Vim. Conclusion: 3-tesla MRI can provide high-quality depiction of the Vim, potentially enabling accurate treatment planning by direct visualization and definition of the targeted Vim.
Collaborate with caution: protecting children, helping mothers
Authors: Davies Linda , Krane Julia
Published: April 2006

Recent recognition of the effects of domestic violence on children has given rise to calls for collaborative interventions between the arenas of child protection and domestic violence. Amidst this flurry of activity, little serious consideration has been given to the subjectivity of mothers who are simultaneously involved with child protection agencies and battered women’s shelters. Without explicit engagement of mothers as subjects in their own right, collaboration has the potential to exacerbate their already trying circumstances. Our paper reviews the child protection context in which women as mothers are simultaneously relegated to the periphery of concern and called upon to act as ‘mother protectors’ in response to children at risk. We then explore mothering in the context of domestic violence and their relative invisibility in shelter settings. We conclude with a call to render women’s experiences of domestic violence and mothering both visible and supported in these collaborative efforts.
Avoiding Sural Nerve Injuries during Percutaneous Achilles Tendon Repair
Authors: Majewski Martin , Rohrbach Markus , Czaja Stephan , Ochsner Peter
Published: April 2006

Background

Sural nerve injury is a reported risk during percutaneous repair of the Achilles tendon.

Hypothesis

Exposure of the sural nerve during percutaneous repair can minimize the risk of nerve injury.

Study Design

Case control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

The authors retrospectively examined the results of 84 patients who were treated for acute Achilles tendon rupture at 2 different hospitals. Both hospitals used the same percutaneous repair technique, except that the sural nerve was exposed in the 38 patients (mean age, 38 years; range, 23-68 years) of one hospital; the nerve was not exposed in the 46 patients (mean age, 42 years; range, 24-71 years) of the other hospital (the nonexposure group).

Results

All patients recovered and returned to work after 44 days (range, 5-202 days). All patients returned to their previous sports levels within 1 year. On the 100-point Hannover Achilles Tendon Score, the mean score was 81 points (range, 44-100 points). The overall incidence of sural nerve related complications was 18%. All sural nerve lesions occurred in the nonexposure group. In the total study population, there were 3 cases of deep vein thrombosis, 1 rerupture, and 1 case of infection.

Conclusion

Sural nerve injuries can be minimized during surgery by carefully placing the stab incisions to expose the nerve so as to avoid it during repair. If the sural nerve is exposed, percutaneous repair of the ruptured Achilles tendon is a safe and reliable method of treating Achilles tendon ruptures.
Rethinking relative measures of poverty
Authors: Sallila Seppo , Hiilamo Heikki , Sund Reijo
Published: April 2006

This paper attempts to develop an alternative measure for relative poverty. The aim is to combine information both on the depth of poverty and the number of people living in poverty. We seek, moreover, to establish a yardstick that would be relatively simple and easy to understand, so as to facilitate the use of such a new method in sociological poverty research and political decision making. The Cumulative Poverty Index (CUPI) indicates how many times poorer on average the poor households are, compared to all households on average (or the other way round: the ratio of the mean income of poor households to the mean income of all households). The empirical analysis demonstrates that CUPI seem to reflect changes in the incomes of the poor more accurately than do head-count ratios based on median income.
‘You Couldn't Say “No”, Could You?’: Young Men's Understandings of Sexual Refusal
Authors: O'Byrne Rachael , Rapley Mark , Hansen Susan
Published: April 2006

While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's ‘ miscommunication’ model is dominant, informing ‘expert’ and popular accounts alike. Rape is constructed as an extreme example of miscommunication – whereby women's ‘failure’ to say ‘no’ is interpreted by men as sexual consent. Kitzinger and Frith have demonstrated that young women have an implicit understanding of the normative interactional structure of refusal, and it is this that explains their difficulty in ‘just saying no’ to unwanted sex. However, Kitzinger and Frith's study could not demonstrate, but only argue, that young men share this sophisticated understanding, such that women saying ‘no’ should not be necessary to refuse sexual intimacy. Here we extend Kitzinger and Frith's study, via the analysis of data from two focus groups held with young men. We demonstrate that, as Kitzinger and Frith suggested, men not only do have a refined ability to hear verbal refusals that do not contain the word ‘no’, but also – and importantly – an equally refined ability to ‘hear’ the subtlest of non-verbal sexual refusals.
Surviving in Dangerous Places: Lesbian Identity Performances in the Workplace, Social Class and Psychological Health
Authors: McDermott Elizabeth
Published: April 2006

This article examines the ways in which the psychological health of women may be influenced by workplace sexual identity performances and social class positioning. It draws on UK research through in-depth interviews with 24 women who self-defined as mainly lesbian and/or gay. The article demonstrates that, for the women in the study, sexual identity performances at work involved negotiating employment settings that render heterosexuality compulsory and thus lesbian/gay performances a risk. As a result, the women engaged in risk-assessment strategies that were psychologically demanding. The women's narratives also suggest that the psychological effects of managing an ‘othered’ sexual identity in work was mediated by social class. The working-class women were more likely to be employed in settings where heterosexuality was heavily regulated and their ‘practices of survival’ were potentially more detrimental to their psychological health.
Problematic Woman-to-Woman Family Relations
Authors: Notko Marianne , Sevón Eija
Published: April 2006

Family research has mostly concentrated on relationships between parents and children or between women and men. On the other hand, feminist studies have explained problems within woman-to-woman relationships deriving from patriarchy. This article focuses on problematic adult woman-to-woman family relationships. More specifically, it discusses two women's ambivalent emotions narrated and experienced in their problematic female family relationships. The authors suggest that feminist studies should take into account culturally dominant narratives interlinking female subjectivity and responsibility over the private sphere. Ambivalence arises in situations where individuals encounter contradictorily structured power hierarchies, i.e. simultaneously trying to follow the (traditional) rules of kinship order and the desire for agency.
Trading Narratives
Authors: Lilley Simon , Lightfoot Geoff
Published: April 2006

This paper is not particularly about trade in goods, nor specifically about trade in the different forms of money that allow us to purchase those goods. Rather, it examines trade in those derivatives of goods and money that attract and enable the activities of three types of traders: hedgers, speculators and arbitrageurs. And it is in these traders themselves that the paper shows greatest interest. Hedgers apparently use derivatives markets to avoid exposure to an adverse movement in the price of an asset that they hold or expect to hold; speculators to take a position in the market that effectively constitutes a bet (that the market will go up or down); whilst arbitrageurs seek to profit from price differentials between two markets in which the entities that are being traded are, in the light of the arbitrage opportunity, mispriced relative to one another. For hedgers and speculators particularly, that which is being traded is seemingly ‘risk’, with the former selling and latter buying. But what does the buying and selling of risk do to those who engage in it? Who makes the markets in which risk can be traded? How do those who construct and trade in markets for risk make sense of themselves and their activities? And who pays the price when things go wrong? These then are the ambitious questions the paper seeks to address. It does so through consideration of accounts by and of traders themselves and by those limited numbers of scholars who have conducted ethnographic study of them. For the subjectivities of those who construct, trade and inhabit the markets for risk are, in an increasingly interconnected financial world, central to the fortunes of those of us who inhabit the more pedestrian economy. From the perspective of the pedestrian economy, the world of high finance and its inhabitants appear as other, whilst we, with our pedestrian concerns, seem other to it and those that live there. And thus we attempt to bring back tales of and by the natives of those strange lands of risk so that you can see what living there is like.
Nick Leeson and the Collapse of Barings Bank: Socio-Technical Networks and the ‘Rogue Trader’
Authors: Greener Ian
Published: April 2006

This paper examines the collapse of Barings Bank, utilizing an extended analytical framework based on Callon's sociology of translation. It shows how Leeson linked himself inextricably with Barings’ executives need for profit, mobilizing them (and others) into defending him when his activities were subject to scrutiny. It goes on to explain the process through which Leeson effectively lost control of his socio-technical network, and concludes by examining the difficulty of Leeson's presentation of himself to the world as a ‘rogue trader’.
Relationship between Process Parameters and Properties of Multifunctional Needlepunched Geotextiles
Authors: Rawal Amit , Anandjiwala Rajesh
Published: April 2006

Geotextiles are commonly produced by needlepunching technology and generally used for various civil engineering applications. Some of these applications require geotextiles to perform more than one function including separation, drainage, and filtration. In this study, the effect of process parameters, namely, feed rate, stroke frequency, and depth of needle penetration has been investigated on various properties of needlepunched geotextiles. These process parameters are then empirically related with the properties of geotextiles. Subsequently, an expert system has been developed to predict the properties of geotextiles for any desired application.
Inhalation of β2 agonists impairs the clearance of nontypable Haemophilus influenzae from the murine respiratory tract
Authors: Maris Nico A , Florquin Sandrine , van't Veer Cornelis , de Vos Alex F , Buurman Wim , Jansen Henk M , van der Poll Tom
Published: April 2006

Background

NontypableHaemophilus influenzae(NTHi) is a common bacterial pathogen causing human respiratory tract infections under permissive conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhalation of β2-receptor agonists is a widely used treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inhalation of β2 agonists on the host immune response to respiratory tract infection with NTHi.

Methods

Mouse alveolar macrophages were stimulated in vitro with NTHi in the presence or absence of the β2 receptor agonists salmeterol or salbutamol. In addition, mice received salmeterol or salbutamol by inhalation and were intranasally infected with NTHi. End points were pulmonary inflammation and bacterial loads.

Results

Both salmeterol and salbutamol inhibited NTHi induced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) release by mouse alveolar macrophages in vitro by a β receptor dependent mechanism. In line, inhalation of either salmeterol or salbutamol was associated with a reduced early TNFα production in lungs of mice infected intranasally with NTHi, an effect that was reversed by concurrent treatment with the β blocker propranolol. The clearance of NTHi from the lungs was impaired in mice treated with salmeterol or salbutamol, an adverse effect that was prevented by propranolol and independent of the reduction in TNFα.

Conclusion

These data suggest that inhalation of salmeterol or salbutamol may negatively influence an effective clearance of NTHi from the airways.
Expression of Toll-like receptor 2 is up-regulated in monocytes from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Pons Jaume , Sauleda Jaume , Regueiro Verónica , Santos Carmen , López Meritxell , Ferrer Joana , Agustí Alvar GN , Bengoechea José A
Published: April 2006

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by pulmonary and systemic inflammation which flare-up during episodes of acute exacerbation (AECOPD). Given the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the induction of inflammatory responses we investigated the involvement of TLRs in COPD pathogenesis.

Methods

The expression of TLR-2, TLR-4 and CD14 in monocytes was analyzed by flow cytometry. To study the functional responses of these receptors, monocytes were stimulated with peptidoglycan or lipopolysaccharide and the amounts of TNFα and IL-6 secreted were determined by ELISA.

Results

We found that the expression of TLR-2 was up-regulated in peripheral blood monocytes from COPD patients, either clinically stable or during AECOPD, as compared to never smokers or smokers with normal lung function. Upon stimulation with TLR-2 ligand monocytes from COPD patients secreted increased amounts of cytokines than similarly stimulated monocytes from never smokers and smokers. In contrast, the expressions of TLR-4 and CD14 were not significantly different between groups, and the response to lipopolysaccharide (a TLR-4 ligand) stimulation was not significantly different either. At discharge from hospital TLR-2 expression was down-regulated in peripheral blood monocytes from AECOPD patients. This could be due to the treatment with systemic steroids because,in vitro, steroids down-regulated TLR-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, we demonstrated that IL-6, whose plasma levels are elevated in patients, up-regulatedin vitroTLR-2 expression in monocytes from never smokers.

Conclusion

Our results reveal abnormalities in TLRs expression in COPD patients and highlight its potential relationship with systemic inflammation in these patients.
QPath: a method for querying pathways in a protein-protein interaction network
Authors: Shlomi Tomer , Segal Daniel , Ruppin Eytan , Sharan Roded
Published: April 2006

Background

Sequence comparison is one of the most prominent tools in biological research, and is instrumental in studying gene function and evolution. The rapid development of high-throughput technologies for measuring protein interactions calls for extending this fundamental operation to the level of pathways in protein networks.

Results

We present a comprehensive framework for protein network searches using pathway queries. Given a linear query pathway and a network of interest, our algorithm, QPath, efficiently searches the network for homologous pathways, allowing both insertions and deletions of proteins in the identified pathways. Matched pathways are automatically scored according to their variation from the query pathway in terms of the protein insertions and deletions they employ, the sequence similarity of their constituent proteins to the query proteins, and the reliability of their constituent interactions. We applied QPath to systematically infer protein pathways in fly using an extensive collection of 271 putative pathways from yeast. QPath identified 69 conserved pathways whose members were both functionally enriched and coherently expressed. The resulting pathways tended to preserve the function of the original query pathways, allowing us to derive a first annotated map of conserved protein pathways in fly.

Conclusion

Pathway homology searches using QPath provide a powerful approach for identifying biologically significant pathways and inferring their function. The growing amounts of protein interactions in public databases underscore the importance of our network querying framework for mining protein network data.
A phylogenomic gene cluster resource: the Phylogenetically Inferred Groups (PhIGs) database
Authors: Dehal Paramvir S , Boore Jeffrey L
Published: April 2006

Background

We present here the PhIGs database, a phylogenomic resource for sequenced genomes. Although many methods exist for clustering gene families, very few attempt to create truly orthologous clusters sharing descent from a single ancestral gene across a range of evolutionary depths. Although these non-phylogenetic gene family clusters have been used broadly for gene annotation, errors are known to be introduced by the artifactual association of slowly evolving paralogs and lack of annotation for those more rapidly evolving. A full phylogenetic framework is necessary for accurate inference of function and for many studies that address pattern and mechanism of the evolution of the genome. The automated generation of evolutionary gene clusters, creation of gene trees, determination of orthology and paralogy relationships, and the correlation of this information with gene annotations, expression information, and genomic context is an important resource to the scientific community.

Discussion

The PhIGs database currently contains 23 completely sequenced genomes of fungi and metazoans, containing 409,653 genes that have been grouped into 42,645 gene clusters. Each gene cluster is built such that the gene sequence distances are consistent with the known organismal relationships and in so doing, maximizing the likelihood for the clusters to represent truly orthologous genes. The PhIGs website contains tools that allow the study of genes within their phylogenetic framework through keyword searches on annotations, such as GO and InterPro assignments, and sequence similarity searches by BLAST and HMM. In addition to displaying the evolutionary relationships of the genes in each cluster, the website also allows users to view the relative physical positions of homologous genes in specified sets of genomes.

Accurate analyses of genes and genomes can only be done within their full phylogenetic context. The PhIGs database and corresponding website http://phigs.org address this problem for the scientific community. Our goal is to expand the content as more genomes are sequenced and use this framework to incorporate more analyses.
Choosing negative examples for the prediction of protein-protein interactions
Authors: Ben-Hur Asa , Noble William Stafford
Published: April 2006

The protein-protein interaction networks of even well-studied model organisms are sketchy at best, highlighting the continued need for computational methods to help direct experimentalists in the search for novel interactions. This need has prompted the development of a number of methods for predicting protein-protein interactions based on various sources of data and methodologies. The common method for choosing negative examples for training a predictor of protein-protein interactions is based on annotations of cellular localization, and the observation that pairs of proteins that have different localization patterns are unlikely to interact. While this method leads to high quality sets of non-interacting proteins, we find that this choice can lead to biased estimates of prediction accuracy, because the constraints placed on the distribution of the negative examples makes the task easier. The effects of this bias are demonstrated in the context of both sequence-based and non-sequence based features used for predicting protein-protein interactions.
Thalidomide attenuates nitric oxide mediated angiogenesis by blocking migration of endothelial cells
Authors: Tamilarasan KP , Kolluru Gopi Krishna , Rajaram Megha , Indhumathy M , Saranya R , Chatterjee Suvro
Published: April 2006

Background

Thalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent, which arrests angiogenesis. The mechanism of anti-angiogenic activity of thalidomide is not fully understood. As nitric oxide is involved in angiogenesis, we speculate a cross-talk between thalidomide and nitric oxide signaling pathway to define angiogenesis. The aim of present study is to understand the mechanistic aspects of thalidomide-mediated attenuation of angiogenesis induced by nitric oxide at the cellular level.

Methods

To study the cellular mechanism of thalidomide-mediated blocking of angiogenesis triggered by nitric oxide, we used two endothelial cell based models: 1) wound healing and 2) tube formation using ECV 304, an endothelial cell line. These cell-based models reflect pro-angiogenic eventsin vivo. We also studied the effects of thalidomide on nitric oxide mediated egg yolk angiogenesis. Thalidomide could block the formation of blood vessels both in absence and presence of nitric oxide. Thalidomide effects on migration of, and actin polymerization in, ECV 304 cells were studied at the single cell level using live cell imaging techniques and probes to detect nitric oxide.

Results

Results demonstrate that thalidomide blocks nitric oxide-mediated angiogenesis in egg yolk model and also reduces the number of tubes formed in endothelial cell monolayers. We also observed that thalidomide arrests wound healing in presence and absence of nitric oxide in a dose-dependent fashion. Additionally, thalidomide promotes actin polymerization and antagonizes the formation of membrane extensions triggered by nitric oxide in endothelial cells. Experiments targeting single tube structure with thalidomide, followed by nitric oxide treatment, show that the tube structures are insensitive to thalidomide and nitric oxide. These observations suggest that thalidomide interferes with nitric oxide-induced migration of endothelial cells at the initial phase of angiogenesis before cells co-ordinate themselves to form organized tubes in endothelial cells and thereby inhibits angiogenesis.

Conclusion

Thalidomide exerts inhibitory effects on nitric oxide-mediated angiogenesis by altering sub-cellular actin polymerization pattern, which leads to inhibition of endothelial cell migration.
Selection of SNP subsets for association studies in candidate genes: comparison of the power of different strategies to detect single disease susceptibility locus effects
Authors: Cousin Emmanuelle , Deleuze Jean-Francois , Genin Emmanuelle
Published: April 2006

Background

The recent advances in genotyping and molecular techniques have greatly increased the knowledge of the human genome structure. Millions of polymorphisms are reported and freely available in public databases. As a result, there is now a need to identify among all these data, the relevant markers for genetic association studies. Recently, several methods have been published to select subsets of markers, usually Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), that best represent genetic polymorphisms in the studied candidate gene or region.

Results

In this paper, we compared four of these selection methods, two based on haplotype information and two based on pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD). The methods were applied to the genotype data on twenty genes with different patterns of LD and different numbers of SNPs. A measure of the efficiency of the different methods to select SNPs was obtained by comparing, for each gene and under several single disease susceptibility models, the power to detect an association that will be achieved with the selected SNP subsets.

Conclusion

None of the four selection methods stands out systematically from the others. Methods based on pairwise LD information turn out to be the most interesting methods in a context of association study in candidate gene. In a context where the number of SNPs to be tested in a given region needs to be more limited, as in large-scale studies or wide genome scans, one of the two methods based on haplotype information, would be more suitable.