bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A behavioural approach to the treatment of obsessional rituals: an adolesent case study
Authors: Green David
Published: January 2007

In this case report Paul, a 15‐year‐old boy who displayed a number of obsessional checking rituals, was treated, using a systematic behaviour therapy package involving autogenic training, satiation and response prevention procedures. Self‐report and observations measures were used to monitor both the frequency of Paul's ritualistic behaviour and also changes in his mood state during baseline treatment and post‐treatment phases. There was a marked reduction in the frequency of checking behaviour accompanied by a more favourable assessment of mood which was maintained at a 6 month follow‐up.
Recruitment and attendance of high‐risk adolescent mothers for training in parenting
Authors: Badger Earladeen
Published: January 2007

Obtaining the cooperation of adolescent mothers for training in parenting has been a serious problem and pediatricians have found their offspring faring badly. Introspection combined with a hypothesis concerning the basis for mother‐infant attachment led to an approach consisting of interviews with adolescent mothers of firstborn infants during the lying‐in period during which they were invited to join classes in parenting. In the pilot program, 53 such mothers, who met the eligibility requirements, were approached and 42 were active participants throughout the first year of their infants' lives. The mean rate of attendance through a total of 45 classes was 78 per cent. In a service program based on this pilot experience, a total of 771 mothers—673 black and 98 white adolescent mothers, out of 810 eligible mothers, all from relatively uneducated families with incomes below the poverty level—were recruited to attend a series of 20 weekly classes. For various reasons, some sensible and some not, one‐quarter of the black and two‐thirds of the white mothers ultimately failed to attend the classes. This experience suggests that a substantial majority of black adolescent mothers and one‐third of white mothers are responsive to an invitation to participate in classes in parenting when approached shortly after delivery in the lying‐in hospital. This success in recruitment for an involvement in group instruction for parenting challenges prior failures based on other approaches and promises what may become an essential initial part of a program of prevention.
Using early assessment of prehomosexual boys as a counseling tool: an exploratory study
Authors: Jones Gerald P.
Published: January 2007

This article examines the possibility that homosexuality, established in early childhood, may sometimes be recognizable in late childhood and early adolescence. Early assessment of the beginnings of a lifelong homosexual adaptation is seen as a potentially valuable tool for the counselor or therapist whose youthful clients may need support and assistance in adjusting to the difficulties of being homosuxual in a predominantly heterosexual world. Because of the lack of a well‐developed literature in youthful female homosexuality, this article is limited to prehomosexual boys and their behavior patterns and family characteristics. Although the literature is not extensive enough to support a usable model for early assessment, the existing literature is reviewed, suggestions are offered to professional regarding possible use of current knowledge, and recommendations for future research are made.
Evaluations of different types of aggressive acts among a variety of male adolescent samples
Authors: Edmunds George , O'Hagan Frank J.
Published: January 2007

An aggression questionnaire measuring a subject's reaction along five evaluation measures—justification, aggressiveness, similarity, punishment and approval—to different types of aggressive behaviour was completed by three groups of subjects who were termed aggressive delinquents, non‐aggressive delinquents and non‐delinquents. The types of aggression inspected were reactive hostile aggression, initiatory instrumental aggression, social aggression, initiatory hostile aggression and reactive instrumental aggression. Analyses of variance found no global differences between the groups but group by type of aggression effects were significant on the similarity and approval measures. Aggressive delinquents were found to rate initiatory aggression more favourably than the other groups particularly the non‐delinquents. Percentage of total variance attributable to situations was found to be greater than that attributable to persons with all three groups and this was most evident with the non‐delinquents.
Psychiatric problems and first year examinations in overseas students at Edinburgh University
Authors: Cox J.L. , Babiker I.E. , Miller P.McC.
Published: January 2007

The relationships between psychiatric illness, lesser degrees of psychiatric symptoms and first year examination results in 121 students of foreign nationality or domiciled overseas are described.

Overseas students were reasonably happy at the start of the year. This happiness declined as the winter progressed and then picked up again in the Easter term. It was, however, only the happiness level in the month of February that predicted academic failure.

Symptoms of anxiety, depression and headache during the Easter term were also found to correlate significantly with first year examination failure. However, only eight students had a definite psychiatric disorder and only one student was referred to the psychiatrist. The practical implications of these findings for the organization of Student Health Services, with particular reference to the needs of overseas students, are discussed.
The anorexic stance*
Authors: Jeammet Philippe
Published: January 2007

The understanding of anorexia nervosa is enhanced by regarding the condition as a stance of opposition adopted by the anorexic adolescent. As this statement needs to be understood before embarking on any therapeutic intervention, it is described in some depth.

In the second part of this paper we describe our therapeutic approach.
Attenuation of the mother‐child bond and male initiation into adult life*
Authors: Stevens Anthony
Published: January 2007

The work of Bowlby and his colleagues has emphasized the importance of the mother‐child bond for healthy psychosocial development in childhood. However, stress on the necessity of forming this bond has been associated with a relative neglect of the consequences for development in adolescence and early adult life if the bond to mother fails to diminish in intensity after the child has attained puberty. In this paper it is suggested that a large and growing population of young males is experiencing a form of protracted adolescence as a result of an inability to loosen the ties of attachment to mother. Two possible causes of this phenomenon are indicated—namely, the decline in the salience of the father in our society and the failure of contemporary culture to provide rites of passage for the initiation of male adolescents into adult life. The implications of these factors for psychotherapy are briefly discussed.
The self concept of adolescent humorists
Authors: Ziv Avner
Published: January 2007

The self concept of adolescent humorists was compared to their non humorists' peers. The humorists were obtained using three different measures of humor: a humor questionnaire, peer nomination (using sociometry of humor) and a humor creation task. Humor scores were obtained by summing the results on these measures. Medians were calculated (separately for each sex since the distribution was significantly different for boys and girls) and those above it were compared with those under it, on a self concept scale. It was found that boy humorists were significantly higher on all humor measures. In addition, the self concept of humorist boys was not very different from those of non humorists. However, humorist girls were significantly different from non humorist girls on most clusters of the self concept scales. These findings were explained according to social expectancies concerning humor as a form of assertive behavior.
Praying for known outcomes
Authors: MAWSON T. J.
Published: January 2007

In this paper, I consider what difference knowledge of outcomes – both past and future – might make to the rationality of praying for them on a traditional theistic model. More specifically, I address four questions: (1)‘Could it be rational to pray for outcomes one knows will obtain?’; (2)‘Could it be rational to pray for outcomes one knows will not obtain?’; (3)‘Could it be rational to pray for outcomes one knows have obtained?’; (4)‘Could it be rational to pray for outcomes one knows have not obtained?’. I argue that, on certain common theistic assumptions, the answer to all of these questions is yes.
A survey of zoonotic pathogens carried by Norway rats in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Authors: EASTERBROOK J. D. , KAPLAN J. B. , VANASCO N. B. , REEVES W. K. , PURCELL R. H. , KOSOY M. Y. , GLASS G. E. , WATSON J. , KLEIN S. L.
Published: January 2007

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) carry several zoonotic pathogens and because rats and humans live in close proximity in urban environments, there exists potential for transmission. To identify zoonotic agents carried by rats in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, we live-trapped 201 rats during 2005–2006 and screened them for a panel of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Antibodies against Seoul virus (57·7%), hepatitis E virus (HEV, 73·5%),Leptospira interrogans(65·3%),Bartonella elizabethae(34·1%), andRickettsia typhi(7·0%) were detected in Norway rats. Endoparasites, includingCalodium hepatica(87·9%) andHymenolepissp. (34·4%), and ectoparasites (13·9%, primarilyLaelaps echidninus) also were present. The risk of human exposure to these pathogens is a significant public health concern. Because these pathogens cause non-specific and often self-limiting symptoms in humans, infection in human populations is probably underdiagnosed.
Incidence of cryptosporidiosis species in paediatric patients in Malawi
Authors: MORSE T. D. , NICHOLS R. A. B. , GRIMASON A. M. , CAMPBELL B. M. , TEMBO K. C. , SMITH H. V.
Published: January 2007

We determined the incidence of cryptosporidiosis in children aged <5 years presenting with diarrhoea in an urban and rural hospital-based setting in Malawi. Stools were collected over a 22-month period during both rainy and dry seasons. A range of microscopic methods were used to determine the presence ofCryptosporidiumspp. oocysts. Species determination was by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) of oocyst-extracted DNA using 18S rRNA and COWP gene loci.Cryptosporidiumspp. oocysts were seen in 5·9% (50/848) of samples, of which 43 amplified by PCR–RFLP indicated the following species:C. hominis,C. parvum,C. hominis/C. parvum,C. meleagridisandC. andersoni. Seven samples could not be amplified by PCR. Wider species diversity was found in the rural setting, and may be a result of increased malnutrition and zoonotic exposure in this area. Improvements in water, sanitation, household hygiene and animal control are required to reduce the incidence of infection in this population.
Laughter: In Ravel's time
Authors: HUEBNER STEVEN
Published: January 2007

Ravel's comic opera L'Heure espagnole (1911) has often been criticised for a certain coldness and lack of sentiment. Such characteristics, however, might profitably be seen in light of Ravel's modernity, an art where surface is privileged over depth. Parallels between Ravel's approach and Henri Bergson's nearly contemporaneous theory of laughter developed in Le Rire – in itself an articulate explication of the surface/depth binary – provide insight into Ravel's aesthetic. This orientation unfolds in the detached adaptation of two historical models in L'Heure espagnole: secco recitative from opera buffa and leitmotivic writing from Wagnerian opera.
Sleep and its management in dementia
Authors: Eeles Eamonn
Published: January 2007

Sleep disturbance is a clinically significant problem in nearly one half of patients with dementia and is a predictor of cognitive and functional decline. There are multiple causes of sleep disturbance in dementia and all represent diagnostic and management challenges. Impaired circadian rhythm is a disorder characterized by an increase in daytime sleep with reduced night-time sleep, a reversal of the sleep/wake cycle. Such disrupted circadian rhythm may occur early in Alzheimer's disease, worsen over time, and is associated with behavioural disturbance, including aggression. In addition to the timing of sleep, the structure of sleep may deteriorate, giving rise to poor sleep quality.
Perfusion Culture of Hybridoma Cells for Hyperproduction of IgG2a Monoclonal Antibody in a Wave Bioreactor‐Perfusion Culture System
Authors: Tang Ya‐Jie , Ohashi Ryo , Hamel Jean‐François P.
Published: January 2007

A novel wave bioreactor‐perfusion culture system was developed for highly efficient production of monoclonal antibody IgG2a (mAb) by hybridoma cells. The system consists of a wave bioreactor, a floating membrane cell‐retention filter, and a weight‐based perfusion controller. A polyethylene membrane filter with a pore size of 7 μm was floating on the surface of the culture broth for cell retention, eliminating the need for traditional pump around flow loops and external cell separators. A weight‐based perfusion controller was designed to balance the medium renewal rate and the harvest rate during perfusion culture. BD Cell mAb Medium (BD Biosciences, CA) was identified to be the optimal basal medium for mAb production during batch culture. A control strategy for perfusion rate (volume of fresh medium/working volume of reactor/day, vvd) was identified as a key factor affecting cell growth and mAb accumulation during perfusion culture, and the optimal control strategy was increasing perfusion rate by 0.15 vvd per day. Average specific mAb production rate was linearly corrected with increasing perfusion rate within the range of investigation. The maximum viable cell density reached 22.3 × 105 and 200.5 × 105 cells/mL in the batch and perfusion culture, respectively, while the corresponding maximum mAb concentration reached 182.4 and 463.6 mg/L and the corresponding maximum total mAb amount was 182.4 and 1406.5 mg, respectively. Not only the yield of viable cell per liter of medium (32.9 × 105 cells/mL per liter medium) and the mAb yield per liter of medium (230.6 mg/L medium) but also the mAb volumetric productivity (33.1 mg/L·day) in perfusion culture were much higher than those (i.e., 22.3 × 105 cells/mL per liter medium, 182.4 mg/L medium, and 20.3 mg/L·day) in batch culture. Relatively fast cell growth and the perfusion culture approach warrant that high biomass and mAb productivity may be obtained in such a novel perfusion culture system (1 L working volume), which offers an alternative approach for producing gram quantity of proteins from industrial cell lines in a liter‐size cell culture. The fundamental information obtained in this study may be useful for perfusion culture of hybridoma cells on a large scale.
Formation of VLF chorus frequency spectrum: Cluster data and comparison with the backward wave oscillator model
Authors: Trakhtengerts V. Y. , Demekhov A. G. , Titova E. E. , Kozelov B. V. , Santolik O. , Macusova E. , Gurnett D. , Pickett J. S. , Rycroft M. J. , Nunn D.
Published: January 2007

The dependence of the frequency spectrum of individual chorus elements on the position of the observation point in and near the generation region is analyzed using recent Cluster data obtained on two different geomagnetically active days. The source of night‐side chorus is localized using multicomponent measurements of the wave electric and magnetic fields. We have revealed that the spectrum of the chorus elements lacks the lower frequencies at the center of the source region. One possible explanation of this effect is provided by applying the backward wave oscillator model of chorus generation to these data. According to this model, the chorus frequency is determined by the parallel velocity corresponding to a step‐like deformation in the distribution function of resonant electrons. This velocity decreases during the generation of an element as the electrons move through the source region. Thus, only a part of a chorus element is visible inside this region. For the typical case of rising‐tone chorus elements, the lower frequencies are generated downstream with respect to the chorus propagation and, hence, disappear as a receiver is moved upstream towards the center of the source region.
Different transient climate responses of two versions of an atmosphere‐ocean coupled general circulation model
Authors: Yokohata T. , Emori S. , Nozawa T. , Ogura T. , Okada N. , Suzuki T. , Tsushima Y. , Kawamiya M. , Abe‐Ouchi A. , Hasumi H. , Sumi A. , Kimoto M.
Published: January 2007

The Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC), an atmosphere‐ocean coupled general circulation model (AOGCM), has two versions with different resolutions, high (Hi‐Res) and medium (Mid‐Res). While their equilibrium climate sensitivities (ECS) to CO2 increases are similar, the transient climate response (TCR) of the Hi‐Res version is larger than that of the Mid‐Res version. The former shows the highest transient response among the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report (AR4) climate models. Our climate feedback analysis indicates that the higher TCR of the Hi‐Res version mainly comes from its larger ice‐albedo feedback (SFC‐SW) and lower ocean heat uptake (OHU). Since the Hi‐Res version shows better agreement with observation than the Mid‐Res version concerning the factors that affect the SFC‐SW and OHU, the TCR of the Hi‐Res version is not considered to be unrealistic compared to that of the Mid‐Res version. On the other hand, the two versions have similar SFC‐SW values and negligible OHU in ECS experiments performed by the atmosphere‐slab ocean coupled general circulation model (ASGCM). In the ASGCM, the difference in SFC‐SW between the two versions was likely suppressed due to artificial fluxes applied to the ocean and sea‐ice system.
Tracing freshwater plume migration in the estuary after a typhoon event using Sr isotopic ratios
Authors: Huang Kuo‐Fang , You Chen‐Feng
Published: January 2007

Tracing the flow of estuarine water into the coastal ocean is complicated due to intense regional mixing and hydro‐morphological restrictions. Here we apply high precision 87Sr/86Sr measurements (2σ = ±3 ppm) in estuarine waters, together with dissolved Ba and Mn, to trace freshened plumes after Typhoon Toraji. Small, but distinguishable Sr isotopic variations are detected in the Kao‐ping Estuary, where Δ87Sr varied up to 50 ppm. On the basis of these geochemical constraints, two distinct sources with high Δ87Sr are identified, which subsequently mixed with the South China Sea Surface Water. The most radiogenic Sr source can be attributed to enhanced water‐sediment interactions generated by the typhoon. An additional source of high 87Sr/86Sr is attributable to redox‐transformation of suspended particles due to variations in river discharges.
A note on “Why does the Ballenas Channel have the coldest SST in the Gulf of California?”
Authors: Marinone S. G.
Published: January 2007

A three‐dimensional nonlinear baroclinic model is used to verify the circulation in the Ballenas Channel (Gulf of California) deduced from observations, which concluded that the cold SST of the channel is due to the deep inflow of water over the sills at both ends of the channel; this convergence at depth would lead to upwelling (divergence) in the upper layers, and to surface outflow through both ends. Here it is reported that the deep flow from the south does enters into the channel but not that from the north. The deep inflow returns back mainly along the surface through the same southern end of the channel and a small fraction flows out through the northern end of the channel and between Ángel de la Guarda and San Lorenzo Islands. The bottom flow that enters through San Esteban sill does not go all the way along Tiburon and Delfin basins and into Ballenas Channel through the northern sill; instead, it returns in the intermediate and surface layers after mixing in those basins.
Observations of ionospheric convection from the Wallops SuperDARN radar at middle latitudes
Authors: Baker J. B. H. , Greenwald R. A. , Ruohoniemi J. M. , Oksavik K. , Gjerloev J. W. , Paxton L. J. , Hairston M. R.
Published: January 2007

During geomagnetic storms the ability of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) to measure ionospheric convection becomes limited when the radars suffer from absorption and the auroral disturbance expands equatorward of the radar sites. To overcome these shortcomings, it was decided to construct a SuperDARN radar at middle latitudes on the grounds of the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of Doppler measurements from the Wallops radar, which commenced operations in May 2005. Wallops measurements are compared with the Goose Bay radar during the onset of a geomagnetic storm on 31 August 2005: Goose Bay measured the onset of geomagnetic activity at high latitude while Wallops monitored the expansion of convection to middle latitudes. Average convection patterns binned by the Kp geomagnetic index are also presented. During weak‐moderate geomagnetic activity (Kp ≤ 3) the Wallops radar observes ionospheric irregularities between 50° and 60° magnetic latitude drifting westward across much of the nightside. When these measurements are incorporated into the calculation of an average SuperDARN convection pattern, the streamlines of polar cap outflow on the nightside become kinked in a manner reminiscent of the Harang discontinuity. This morphology arises quite naturally when the two‐cell convection at high latitudes merges with the prevailing westward convection at middle latitudes. During increased geomagnetic activity (Kp ≥ 3), Wallops is able to measure the expansion of auroral electric fields to middle latitudes and the average SuperDARN cross‐polar cap potential is increased by 25%.
North Atlantic climate variability from a self‐organizing map perspective
Authors: Reusch David B. , Alley Richard B. , Hewitson Bruce C.
Published: January 2007

North Atlantic variability in general, and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in particular, is a long‐studied, very important but still not well‐understood problem in climatology. The recent trend to a higher wintertime NAO index was accompanied by an additional increase in the Azores High not coupled to changes in the Icelandic Low, as shown by a self‐organizing maps (SOMs) analysis of monthly mean DJF mean sea level pressure data from 1957 to 2002. SOMs are a nonlinear tool to optimally extract a user‐specified number of patterns or icons from an input data set and to uniquely relate any input data field to an icon, allowing analyses of occurrence frequencies and transitions complementary to principal component analysis (PCA). SOMs analysis of ERA‐40 data finds a North Atlantic “monopole” roughly colocated with the mean position of the Azores High, as well as the well‐known NAO dipole involving the Icelandic Low and the subtropical high. Little trend is shown in December, but the Azores High increased along with the NAO in January and February over the study interval, with implications for storminess in northwestern Europe. In short, our SOM‐based analyses of winter MSLP have both confirmed prior knowledge and expanded it through the relative ease of use and power with nonlinear systems of the SOM‐based approach to climatological analysis.
Interannual variability associated with Semiannual Oscillation in southern high latitudes
Authors: Taschetto A. , Wainer I. , Raphael M.
Published: January 2007

The annual and interannual variations of sea level pressure (SLP) over the Southern Ocean are investigated using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1968 to 2005. Results show that the weakening of the Semiannual Oscillation (SAO) has continued to present day but does not occur homogeneously across all longitudes. While the second harmonic of SLP has decreased over the South Pacific Ocean, its signal is still strong over the Atlantic sector up to 2005. This suggests that the mechanism influencing the amplitude of the SAO over South Atlantic Ocean is different to that in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Spectral analysis of zonally averaged SLP at 50°S and 65°S shows that significant energy is associated with the period of 4 years. The same period is found for the time series of the zonally averaged position of the circumpolar trough and for the meridional temperature gradient at 500 hPa. This interannual signal is even stronger in the time series of the SLP difference between those two latitudes: the SAO index. Wavelet analysis of the SLP time series at mid and high southern latitudes showed significant interannual energy, also with a 4 year period, at 50°S, 65°S, and in the time series of their difference. When analyzed by ocean basins, spectral analysis reveal that there is no interannual variability at the 4 year period for the Atlantic, indicating that the known weakening of the SAO is basin‐dependent.
Number of nitrate groups determines reactivity and potency of organic nitrates: a proof of concept study in ALDH‐2−/− mice
Authors: Wenzel P , Hink U , Oelze M , Seeling A , Isse T , Bruns K , Steinhoff L , Brandt M , Kleschyov A L , Schulz E , Lange K , Weiner H , Lehmann J , Lackner K J , Kawamoto T , Münzel T , Daiber A
Published: January 2007

Background and purpose:

Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH‐2) has been shown to provide a pathway for bioactivation of organic nitrates and to be prone to desensitization in response to highly potent, but not to less potent, nitrates. We therefore sought to support the hypothesis that bioactivation by ALDH‐2 critically depends on the number of nitrate groups within the nitrovasodilator.

Experimental approach:

Nitrates with one (PEMN), two (PEDN; GDN), three (PETriN; glyceryl trinitrate, GTN) and four (pentaerithrityl tetranitrate, PETN) nitrate groups were investigated. Vasodilatory potency was measured in isometric tension studies using isolated aortic segments of wild type (WT) and ALDH‐2−/− mice. Activity of the cGMP‐dependent kinase‐I (reflected by levels of phosphorylated VAsodilator Stimulated Phosphoprotein, P‐VASP) was quantified by Western blot analysis, mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity by HPLC. Following incubation of isolated mitochondria with PETN, PETriN‐chromophore and PEDN, metabolites were quantified using chemiluminescence nitrogen detection and mass spectrometry.

Key results:

Compared to WT, vasorelaxation in response to PETN, PETriN and GTN was attenuated about 10fold in ALDH‐2−/− mice, identical to WT vessels preincubated with inhibitors of ALDH‐2. Reduced vasodilator potency correlated with reduced P‐VASP formation and diminished biotransformation of the tetranitrate‐ and trinitrate‐compounds. None of these findings were observed for PEDN, GDN and PEMN.

Conclusions and implications:

Our results support the crucial role of ALDH‐2 in bioactivating highly reactive nitrates like GTN, PETN and PETriN. ALDH‐2‐mediated relaxation by organic nitrates therefore depends mainly on the number of nitrate groups. Less potent nitrates like PEDN, GDN and PEMN are apparently biotransformed by other pathways.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2007) 150, 526–533. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707116
The synthetic TRH analogue taltirelin exerts modality‐specific antinociceptive effects via distinct descending monoaminergic systems
Authors: Tanabe M , Tokuda Y , Takasu K , Ono K , Honda M , Ono H
Published: January 2007

Background and purpose:

Exogenously administered thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH) is known to exert potent but short‐acting centrally‐mediated antinociceptive effects. We sought to investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects using the synthetic TRH analogue taltirelin, focusing on the descending monoaminergic systems in mice.

Experimental approach:

The mice received systemic or local injections of taltirelin combined with either central noradrenaline (NA) or 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) depletion by 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) or DL‐p‐chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), respectively, or blockade of their receptors. The degree of antinociception was determined using the tail flick and tail pressure tests.

Key results:

Subcutaneously (s.c.) administered taltirelin exhibited dose‐dependent antinociceptive effects in the tail flick and tail pressure tests. These effects appeared to be primarily supraspinally mediated, since intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) but not intrathecally (i.t.) injected taltirelin generated similar effects. Depletion of central NA abolished only the analgesic effect of taltirelin (s.c. and i.c.v.) on mechanical nociception. By contrast, depletion of central 5‐HT abolished only its analgesic effect on thermal nociception. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) and i.t. injection of the α2‐adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine respectively reduced the analgesic effect of taltirelin (s.c. and i.c.v.) on mechanical nociception. By contrast, the 5‐HT1Areceptor antagonist WAY‐100635 (i.p. and i.t.) reduced the effect of taltirelin (s.c. and i.c.v.) on thermal nociception. Neither the 5‐HT2receptor antagonist ketanserin nor the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone altered the antinociceptive effect of taltirelin.

Conclusions and Implications:

These findings suggest that taltirelin activates the descending noradrenergic and serotonergic pain inhibitory systems, respectively, to exert its analgesic effects on mechanical and thermal nociception.

British Journal of Pharmacology(2007)150, 403–414. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707125
Design and characterization of a platelet‐targeted plasminogen activator with enhanced thrombolytic and antithrombotic potency
Authors: Yan Hong‐Li , Sun Shu‐Han , Wang Wei‐Ting , Ding Fei‐Xiang , Mei Qian , Xue Geng
Published: January 2007

To obtain a thrombus‐targeted plasminogen activator with high affinity for activated platelets and enhanced thrombolytic and antithrombotic potency, we engineered a sequence encoding RGDS (Arg‐Gly‐Asp‐Ser) peptide into the loop between domains II and III of the sequence‐deleted mutant of annexin B1 and then constructed a chimaeric plasminogen activator gene mAnxB1‐RGDS‐ScuPA by fusing ScuPA32k [low‐molecular‐mass single‐chain urokinase (32 kDa)] with the N‐terminus. The chimaeric protein was expressed in inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli at 25% of the total cellular protein content. Ion‐exchange and gel‐filtration chromatographies were applied to purify the chimaeric protein, achieving purity greater than 98%. We demonstrated that this chimaera can be expressed and purified in an active form; in vitro testing indicated that the chimaera fully retained the thrombolytic activity, platelet membrane‐binding activity and anti‐platelet aggregation activity of the parent molecules. The plasma clearance of the chimaera was similar to that of urokinase and ScuPA32k. In vivo experiments in a canine system indicated that animals administered the chimaera presented a decreased time to reperfusion, higher reperfusion ratio and less bleeding effects than treatment with urokinase. These results show that the chimaera is a platelet‐targeted plasminogen activator with enhanced thrombolytic and antithrombotic potency that may have advantages over currently available thrombolytic agents.
Immunogenicity of DNA modified by singlet oxygen: implications in systemic lupus erythematosus and cancer
Authors: Khan Fozia , Khan Farina , Ali Rashid
Published: January 2007

Activation, proliferation and programmed cell death of immune cells are dependent on controlled production of ROS (reactive oxygen species). However, under chronic inflammatory conditions, large amounts of ROS generated are a major cause of many human degenerative diseases. ROS are known to cause DNA damage, leading to strand breaks, base damage and conformational changes. 1O2 (singlet oxygen), being one of the most potent ROS, is known to selectively react with the deoxyguanosine moiety in DNA. The effect of 1O2, generated by UV irradiation of Methylene Blue, on plasmid DNA was studied by UV spectroscopy and electrophoresis. The antibodies raised against the modified DNA in experimental animals induced a high titre. IgG was purified on a Protein A–Sepharose matrix, and oxidative lesions in DNA of SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) and cancer patients were probed using anti‐(1O2‐plasmid DNA) [anti‐(1O2‐modified plasmid DNA)]. The DNA isolated from the sera of SLE and cancer patients was found to inhibit anti‐1O2‐plasmid DNA IgG activity, reiterating the results obtained with serum samples. These binding results indicate the presence of oxidative lesions in the SLE and cancer patients' genome caused by excessive production of ROS. The results confirm the damaging effect ROS has on DNA. The excessive production of reactive oxygen intermediates may be one of the factors responsible for the induction of autoimmune response seen in SLE and cancer.
What's next in translational medicine?
Authors: Littman Bruce H. , Di Mario Linda , Plebani Mario , Marincola Francesco M.
Published: January 2007

Translational medicine is the integrated application of innovative pharmacology tools, biomarkers, clinical methods, clinical technologies and study designs to improve disease understanding, confidence in human drug targets and increase confidence in drug candidates, understand the therapeutic index in humans, enhance cost-effective decision making in exploratory development and increase phase II success. Translational research is one of the most important activities of translational medicine as it supports predictions about probable drug activities across species and is especially important when compounds with unprecedented drug targets are brought to humans for the first time. Translational research has the potential to deliver many practical benefits for patients and justify the extensive investments placed by the private and public sector in biomedical research. Translational research encompasses a complexity of scientific, financial, ethical, regulatory, legislative and practical hurdles that need to be addressed at several levels to make the process efficient. Several have resisted the idea of supporting translational research because of its high costs and the fear that it may re-direct funds from other biomedical disciplines. Resistance also comes from those more familiar with traditional clinical research methods. In this review, we argue that translational research should be seen as enabled by ongoing efforts in basic and clinical research and not competing with them. Translational research provides the knowledge necessary to draw important conclusions from clinical testing regarding disease and the viability of novel drug mechanisms. Advancing translational research requires education and new sources of funding. This could be achieved through public and congressional education by a joint coalition of patients' advocacy groups, academia, drug regulatory agencies and industry.
Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay
Authors: Álvarez-Rivadulla María José
Published: January 2007

In this paper, I examine the local expression of a global phenomenon: gated communities in Montevideo, Uruguay. Focusing on the residents' perspective, I investigate microlevel processes of class segregation. I analyze residential and class trajectories, motivations for moving, and consequences of the move. I rely on interviews with residents, developers, architects, and real-estate agents; advertisements; and ethnographic field notes. A major finding is that gated communities do not always increase social and residential segregation. In Montevideo, families in these neighborhoods were already segregated from lower classes. Residents experienced changes in family and community life, but those changes rarely corresponded to changes in their class segregation. This challenges the central focus of the literature on gated communities: a presumed effect on increased class segregation regardless of the context. Another major finding is that residents moved to new neighborhoods to secure class reproduction and gain control over their immediate environment, something that they saw the open city was threatening. Surprisingly, these motivations are very similar to those reported in studies of gentrification. Rather than calling for yet another stretching of the meaning of gentrification, based on these similarities I argue that comparative urban research would profit from a more acute focus on underlying social processes rather than on manifest physical forms.
A Global Gentrifier Class?
Authors: Bridge Gary
Published: January 2007

If gentrification is now global, I investigate the degree to which it is possible to argue that it involves a global gentrifier class. This is examined in a number of dimensions: occupational characteristics; the mix of economic and cultural capital; ideas of cosmopolitan knowledge; gentrification aesthetics and the use of urban space. I argue that, whilst a new middle class is reproduced in certain global cities, the diversity of aesthetic trajectories and the localisms of cosmopolitan knowledge suggest that the case for a global gentrifier class or urban new middle class is a weak one. Much more pervasive at a global scale is a conventional set of strategies of middle-class reproduction in preserving social distinction that now occurs in urban as well as suburban contexts.
Loft Conversion and Gentrification in London: From Industrial to Postindustrial Land Use
Authors: Hamnett Chris , Whitelegg Drew
Published: January 2007

It is argued that many major Western cities have seen the conversion of centrally located commercial and industrial property to residential uses in recent years. This is seen as part of a wider process of change from industrial to postindustrial land uses and is a physical counterpart of the economic and occupational class transformation of these cities towards the growth of professional and managerial workers working in financial, business, and creative services. The paper focuses on loft conversions in Clerkenwell, adjacent to the City of London which are shown to be initiated by changes in the commercial property market, particularly the rise and fall of the secondary office market and the need to find alternative uses for commercial property. The apartments have been marketed in terms of their architectural distinction, their centrality and the social attributes of city-centre living. Their residents are professional and managerial workers with a strong orientation towards centrality, many of whom see themselves as pioneers of a new form of city-centre living.
Gentrification as a Governmental Strategy: Social Control and Social Cohesion in Hoogvliet, Rotterdam
Authors: Uitermark Justus , Duyvendak Jan Willem , Kleinhans Reinout
Published: January 2007

The emergence of gentrification as a ‘global urban strategy’ (Smith, 2002, “New globalism, new urbanism: gentrification as a global urban strategy” Antipode 34 427–451) is clearly visible in the peripheral boroughs of Dutch cities. We suggest, however, that the driving force of gentrification in these areas is not the local government's need to strengthen its tax base or developers' pursuit of profit. Gentrification is also not a response to the housing demands of a new middle class. Instead, we conceive of state-led gentrification in the Netherlands, and perhaps elsewhere as well, as an attempt by a coalition of state actors and housing associations at generating social order in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Gentrification is used to pacify tensions and to reduce concentrations that pose a problem for authorities. In many cases, residents support this strategy, either actively or passively. But, at the same time, interaction between low-income and higher-income households, and between renters and homeowners, in restructured neighbourhoods are often superficial at best and hostile at worst. Thus, gentrification undermines social cohesion and thereby reduces the chance that residents will find solutions for tensions in the neighbourhood.
Social and School Differentiation in Urban Space: Inequalities and Local Configurations
Authors: Oberti Marco
Published: January 2007

The distribution of school provision in the greater Paris metropolitan area, including the availability of certain courses and study programs, is strongly correlated with the social profiles of the different localities and corresponds to sharp disparities. The highly diversified, attractive school options in localities whose residents are highly privileged in socioeconomic and occupational terms stand in contrast to the less diversified educational resources, including fewer course and study-program options, and reduced private school presence in more markedly working-class municipalities. Different approaches to school choice are strongly linked to parents' socioeconomic status but do not amount merely to practices for avoiding stigmatized middle schools in working-class localities. Those approaches make sense when considered in relation to what may be tightly circumscribed social and school environments and differentiated social positions and demands. The results presented here call into question the effectiveness of school-districting rules in France aimed at regulating the social profile of middle schools. As in London, Amsterdam, and Madrid, school dynamics and urban space in the outskirts of Paris are closely intertwined and increasingly interact in producing segregation.
Leaf shrinkage decreases porosity at low water potentials in sunflower
Authors: Tang An-Ching , Boyer John S.
Published: January 2007

Leaves often shrink significantly when soil water is limited. For gas exchange measurmements, the shrinkage can require correction for changing amounts of tissue in the apparatus. In sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus L.), a comparison was made between mathematically-corrected transpiration and clamping leaves at their original turgid size without mathematical correction. These methods should give the same result, but transpiration was substantially greater in the clamped leaves than in the shrunken and mathematically-corrected ones. Because the clamped leaves remained at their original turgid area, wounding was not a factor. If shrunken leaves were stretched to their original area, transpiration increased immediately and was traced to increased leaf conductance to water vapor and greater porosity for bulk air movement through the leaf, implicating the stomata. Releasing the leaf caused each of these properties to return to the tightened condition. When all the leaves were held at their original size during a soil water deficit, whole-plant water use was greater than when the leaves shrank naturally. It was concluded that shrinkage decreases the porosity of sunflower leaves. This natural tightening can be disrupted by stretching leaves during gas exchange measurements. However, stretching provides a useful means of changing leaf porosity for experimental purposes.
Critical role of PA28γ in hepatitis C virus-associated steatogenesis and hepatocarcinogenesis
Authors: Moriishi Kohji , Mochizuki Rika , Moriya Kyoji , Miyamoto Hironobu , Mori Yoshio , Abe Takayuki , Murata Shigeo , Tanaka Keiji , Miyamura Tatsuo , Suzuki Tetsuro , Koike Kazuhiko , Matsuura Yoshiharu
Published: January 2007

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease that frequently leads to steatosis, cirrhosis, and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCV core protein is not only a component of viral particles but also a multifunctional protein because liver steatosis and HCC are developed in HCV core gene-transgenic (CoreTg) mice. Proteasome activator PA28γ/REGγ regulates host and viral proteins such as nuclear hormone receptors and HCV core protein. Here we show that a knockout of the PA28γ gene induces the accumulation of HCV core protein in the nucleus of hepatocytes of CoreTg mice and disrupts development of both hepatic steatosis and HCC. Furthermore, the genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis and
srebp-1c
promoter activity were up-regulated by HCV core protein in the cell line and the mouse liver in a PA28γ-dependent manner. Heterodimer composed of liver X receptor α (LXRα) and retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) is known to up-regulate
srebp-1c
promoter activity. Our data also show that HCV core protein enhances the binding of LXRα/RXRα to LXR-response element in the presence but not the absence of PA28γ. These findings suggest that PA28γ plays a crucial role in the development of liver pathology induced by HCV infection.
The identification of bacillaene, the product of the PksX megacomplex in
Bacillus subtilis
Authors: Butcher Rebecca A. , Schroeder Frank C. , Fischbach Michael A. , Straight Paul D. , Kolter Roberto , Walsh Christopher T. , Clardy Jon
Published: January 2007

The ≈80-kb
pksX
gene cluster in
Bacillus subtilis
encodes an unusual hybrid polyketide/nonribosomal peptide synthase that has been linked to the production of the uncharacterized antibiotic bacillaene. Multiple copies of this synthase, each similar in size to the ribosome, assemble into a single organelle-like complex with a mass of tens to hundreds of megadaltons. The resource requirements of the assembled megacomplex suggest that bacillaene has an important biological role. By coupling a differential NMR spectroscopic technique with genetically manipulated strains of
B. subtilis
, we were able to characterize the structure of this unusual secondary metabolite, which could not be predicted by using bioinformatic analysis. We report that bacillaene is a linear molecule with two amide bonds: the first links an α-hydroxy carboxylic acid to a ω-amino carboxylic acid containing a conjugated hexaene, and the second links the hexaene-containing carboxylic acid to an (ω-1) amino carboxylic acid containing a conjugated triene. Knowledge of bacillaene's structure has enabled us to annotate the
pksX
gene cluster and should facilitate the study of bacillaene's biosynthesis as well as its biological role in
B. subtilis
.
Guidelines on information requirements for import and release of invertebrate biological control agents in European countries.
Authors: Bigler F. , Bale J. S. , Cock M. J. W. , Dreyer H. , Greatrex R. , Kuhlmann U. , Loomans A. J. M. , Lenteren J. C. van
Published: January 2007

Several international documents have been published in recent years with the objective of providing guidance to industry, biocontrol practitioners and competent national regulatory authoritieson the regulatory framework for the import and release of invertebrate biological control agents(IBCAs). As the scope and the level of detail given in these documents were diverse in many respects, it has been difficult for all stakeholders to apply such guidelines, and to integrate them in a harmonized way into national regulatory documents. At the request of several stakeholders, the International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Animals and Plants/West Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC/WPRS) organized an initiative with the objective of merging all relevant international documents into one document, to provide more specific guidance, and to harmonizethe regulation of IBCAs in European countries and in other countries of the IOBC/WPRS. This document consists of five sections which together form comprehensive guidelines specifying the information required for regulating import and release of IBCAs.
Control of fish lactococcosis: efficacy of vaccination procedures.
Authors: Romalde J. L. , Ravelo C. , Toranzo A. E.
Published: January 2007

The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the current status of vaccination against lactococcosis. Presented are the effectiveness and duration of protection in rainbow trout and yellowtail, two of the fish species that are most affected by this disease, obtained with a variety of vaccines developed by different research groups. In addition, recent advances obtained in our laboratory with two distinct approaches, adjuvanted vaccines and oral booster vaccination, as well as the availability of commercial vaccines are also discussed.