bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
IL‐31 significantly correlates with disease activity and Th2 cytokine levels in children with atopic dermatitis
Authors: Raap Ulrike , Weißmantel Sigo , Gehring Manuela , Eisenberg Anna M. , Kapp Alexander , Fölster‐Holst Regina 
Published: April 2012

To cite this article: Raap U, Weißmantel S, Gehring M, Eisenberg AM, Kapp A, Fölster‐Holst R. IL‐31 significantly correlates with disease activity and Th2 cytokine levels in children with atopic dermatitis. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012: 23: 285–288.AbstractRecently, we could show that IL‐31 serum levels are significantly increased in adult patients with atopic dermatitis compared with skin healthy controls. However, the regulation of IL‐31 in children with atopic dermatitis so far is not clear. Thus, we analyzed IL‐31 serum levels together with IL‐4, IL‐13, ECP, and total IgE levels in 60 children with extrinsic, in five children with intrinsic atopic dermatitis, and 20 non‐atopic healthy children. Further, we determined the SCORAD score, sleeplessness, and pruritus severity in all children with atopic dermatitis. IL‐31 was significantly increased in children with the intrinsic and extrinsic type of atopic dermatitis compared with non‐atopic healthy children (p < 0.05‐0.001). Further, IL‐31 serum levels significantly correlated with SCORAD score (p < 0.01), sleeplessness (p < 0.05), IL‐4, and IL‐13 levels (p < 0.01) in children with extrinsic atopic dermatitis. There was no correlation of IL‐31 with pruritus, total IgE Ab, and ECP levels, whereas ECP levels significantly correlated with the SCORAD score in children with extrinsic atopic dermatitis. Together, IL‐31 represents an interesting cytokine especially with regard to the severity of the inflammatory process indicated by the correlation of IL‐31 with SCORAD score and Th2 cytokines including IL‐4 and IL‐13 in children with extrinsic atopic dermatitis.
Peanut sensitization during the first 5 yr of life is associated with elevated levels of peanut‐specific IgG
Authors: Sverremark‐Ekström E. , Hultgren E. H. , Borres M. P. , Nilsson C. 
Published: April 2012

To cite this article: Sverremark‐Ekström E, Hultgren EH, Borres MP, Nilsson C. Peanut sensitization during the first 5 yr of life is associated with elevated levels of peanut‐specific IgG. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012: 23: 224–229.AbstractBackground:  Allergen‐specific IgE antibodies are implicated in allergic diseases while allergen‐specific IgG antibodies have been proposed to prevent allergic reactions. The objective for this study was to study whether the immune response (IgG and IgG4) to peanut differs in IgE‐sensitized and non‐sensitized young children.Methods:  A total of 239 children have been followed prospectively from birth to 5 yr of age. The levels of IgG and IgG4 to peanut, Ara h 2, and Ara h 8 were analyzed at 2 and 5 yr of age and related to IgE sensitization and peanut consumption.Results:  The levels of peanut‐specific IgG and IgG4 were significantly higher in peanut‐sensitized children at 2 and 5 yr of age when compared with non‐sensitized children and children sensitized to other food/inhalant allergens. A strong correlation was seen between levels of peanut‐specific IgG/IgG4‐ratios and peanut‐specific IgE at 5 yr of age. Children avoiding peanuts, a subgroup of the peanut sensitized, had statistically significant higher levels of IgE to peanut and a tendency of higher IgG and IgG4 levels to peanut. In the avoidance group, significant correlations between IgE and IgG/IgG4 to peanut were found compared with children eating peanuts.Conclusion:  Peanut‐specific IgG or IgG4 levels were elevated in peanut‐sensitized children especially those avoiding peanuts. In our study, IgG and IgG4 do not seem to indicate tolerance or protection from sensitization.
Maintenance therapies in bipolar disorders
Authors: Gitlin Michael , Frye Mark A 
Published: April 2012

Gitlin M, Frye MA. Maintenance therapies in bipolar disorders. Bipolar Disord 2012: 14 (Suppl. 2): 51–65. © 2012 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.Objective:  Bipolar disorder is an inherently recurrent disorder, requiring maintenance preventive treatments in the vast majority of patients. The authors review the data on maintenance treatments in bipolar disorder, highlighting the controlled trial literature.Methods:  Literature review using PubMed, Medline, and a hand search of relevant literature.Results:  Over the last decade, a number of effective maintenance treatments for bipolar disorder have been developed with an evidence base for second‐generation antipsychotics and some anticonvulsants. Increasing numbers of patients, therefore, are appropriately treated with multiple medications as a maintenance regimen. For some medications, maintenance treatment has been demonstrated in randomized controlled trials for both monotherapy and in combination with other mood stabilizers. Lithium continues as our oldest well‐established maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder with somewhat better efficacy in preventing mania than depression. Lamotrigine, olanzapine, and quetiapine have bimodal efficacy in preventing both mania and depression, although lamotrigine’s efficacy is more robust in preventing depression and olanzapine’s efficacy is greater in preventing mania. Aripiprazole, ziprasidone, and risperidone long‐acting injection all prevent mania, but not depression. Less controlled investigations have suggested some evidence of maintenance mood stabilization with carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, and adjunctive psychotherapy.Conclusions:  Despite the number of agents with demonstrated efficacy as maintenance treatments in bipolar disorder, optimal treatment regimens are still a combination of evidence‐based therapy in combination with individualized creative treatment algorithms.
Reticular Groove of the Domestic Ruminants: Histochemical and Immunocytochemical Study
Authors: Scala G. , Maruccio L. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryThe reticular groove mucosa of adult cattle, buffalo and sheep was investigated by histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques. Intense NADPH‐d staining was observed in the folds of the epithelium mucosa and at the bottom of the reticular groove in all domestic ruminants studied. The NADPH‐d staining showed that the innervations of the tunica muscularis of the reticular groove lip were composed of nerve corpuscles, nerve fibres and nerve cells of the mucosa epithelium. SEM analysis showed an intense nitric oxide synthase (NOS) I immunoreactivity in deep and medium cellular layers. It is interesting to note that the same morphologies were observed in samples of the mucosa epithelium, and of the tunica muscularis processed by NADPH‐d and in those processed by immunogold techniques. This study has demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the rumination activity and that it plays a double role in this activity in the reticular groove of all domestic ruminants studied: (1) NO plays a role similar to the one it has in the mucosa epithelium of all the other compartments of the ruminant forestomach, (2) The lip sections of the reticular groove has shown abundant innervations that may indirectly coordinate and control the forestomach motility through the direct activation of the nitrergic (nitroxidergic) nerve cells and nerve fibres.
Auditory perception and syntactic cognition: brain activity‐based decoding within and across subjects
Authors: Herrmann Björn , Maess Burkhard , Kalberlah Christian , Haynes John‐Dylan , Friederici Angela D. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe present magnetoencephalography study investigated whether the brain states of early syntactic and auditory‐perceptual processes can be decoded from single‐trial recordings with a multivariate pattern classification approach. In particular, it was investigated whether the early neural activation patterns in response to rule violations in basic auditory perception and in high cognitive processes (syntax) reflect a functional organization that largely generalizes across individuals or is subject‐specific. On this account, subjects were auditorily presented with correct sentences, syntactically incorrect sentences, correct sentences including an interaural time difference change, and sentences containing both violations. For the analysis, brain state decoding was carried out within and across subjects with three pairwise classifications. Neural patterns elicited by each of the violation sentences were separately classified with the patterns elicited by the correct sentences. The results revealed the highest decoding accuracies over temporal cortex areas for all three classification types. Importantly, both the magnitude and the spatial distribution of decoding accuracies for the early neural patterns were very similar for within‐subject and across‐subject decoding. At the same time, across‐subject decoding suggested a hemispheric bias, with the most consistent patterns in the left hemisphere. Thus, the present data show that not only auditory‐perceptual processing brain states but also cognitive brain states of syntactic rule processing can be decoded from single‐trial brain activations. Moreover, the findings indicate that the neural patterns in response to syntactic cognition and auditory perception reflect a functional organization that is highly consistent across individuals.
Convergent inputs from electrically and topographically distinct orexin cells to locus coeruleus and ventral tegmental area
Authors: González J. Antonio , Jensen Lise T. , Fugger Lars , Burdakov Denis 
Published: April 2012

AbstractOrexin/hypocretin (orx/hcrt) neurons are thought to ensure that reward‐seeking is accompanied by alertness, but the underlying circuit organization is unclear. Reports of differential regulation of lateral versus medial orx/hcrt cells produced a hypothesis of ‘efferent dichotomy’, in which lateral orx/hcrt cells innervate the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and control reward, while medial orx/hcrt cells innervate locus coeruleus (LC) and control arousal. Two distinct types of orx/hcrt cells also emerged from analysis of intrinsic and input‐driven single‐cell electrical activity. To examine the projections of these emerging orx/hcrt subtypes to LC and VTA, we injected retrograde tracer into these regions in the mouse brain in vivo, and then examined the properties of tracer‐containing orx/hcrt cells in hypothalamic slices. VTA‐ and LC‐projecting orx/hcrt cells were found across the entire orx/hcrt field, including the zona incerta, perifornical area, dorsomedial/anterior and lateral hypothalamus. Within these areas, orx/hcrt cells had similar probabilities of projecting to VTA or LC. Examination of lateral versus medial sections revealed that VTA and LC received inputs from both lateral and medial orx/hcrt cells, but, unexpectedly, lateral orx/hcrt cells were more likely to project to LC than medial orx/hcrt cells. Finally, patch‐clamp recordings revealed that VTA and LC received projections from both electrical classes of orx/hcrt cells, which had similar likelihoods of projecting to VTA or LC. Contrary to previous predictions, our data suggest that medial and lateral orx/hcrt cells, and the different electrical and morphological subclasses of orx/hcrt cells identified to date, send projections to both LC and VTA.
Enhancement of neural representation capacity by modular architecture in networks of cortical neurons
Authors: Levy Ofri , Ziv Noam E. , Marom Shimon 
Published: April 2012

AbstractBiological networks are ubiquitously modular, a feature that is believed to be essential for the enhancement of their functional capacities. Here, we have used a simple modular in vitro design to examine the possibility that modularity enhances network functionality in the context of input representation. We cultured networks of cortical neurons obtained from newborn rats in vitro on substrate‐integrated multi‐electrode arrays, forcing the network to develop two well‐defined modules of neural populations that are coupled by a narrow canal. We measured the neural activity, and examined the capacity of each module to individually classify (i.e. represent) spatially distinct electrical stimuli and propagate input‐specific activity features to their downstream coupled counterpart. We show that, although each of the coupled modules maintains its autonomous functionality, a significant enhancement of representational capacity is achieved when the system is observed as a whole. We interpret our results in terms of a relative decorrelation effect imposed by weak coupling between modules.
Predicting plant responses to mycorrhizae: integrating evolutionary history and plant traits
Authors: Reinhart Kurt O. , Wilson Gail W. T. , Rinella Matthew J. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractWe assessed whether (1) arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of roots (RC) and/or plant responses to arbuscular mycorrhizae (MR) vary with plant phylogeny and (2) MR and RC can be more accurately predicted with a phylogenetic predictor relative to a null model and models with plant trait and taxonomic predictors. In a previous study, MR and RC of 95 grassland species were measured. We constructed a phylogeny for these species and found it explained variation in MR and RC. Next, we used multiple regressions to identify the models that most accurately predicted plant MR. Models including either phylogenetic or phenotypic and taxonomic information similarly improved our ability to predict MR relative to a null model. Our study illustrates the complex evolutionary associations among species and constraints of using phylogenetic information, relative to plant traits, to predict how a plant species will interact with AMF.
Effects of HbA1c and weight reduction on blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with exenatide*
Authors: Paul S. , Best J. , Klein K. , Han J. , Maggs D. 
Published: April 2012

Aim: Treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes with glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) receptor agonist exenatide has showed improvements in glycaemic control coupled with weight loss and lowered blood pressure (BP). We examined the synergy between improved glycaemia and weight loss on BP reduction in patients treated with either exenatide twice daily (BID) or once weekly (QW).Methods: Combining data from three controlled trials, 686 (53% male) patients [baseline mean ± SD: age 55 ± 10 years, weight 95 ± 20 kg, systolic blood pressure (SBP)/diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 130/79 ± 15/9 mmHg, HbA1c 8.3 ± 1.1%] treated with exenatide QW (n = 541) or BID (n = 145) were observed over 26 weeks. Using weighted means (WMs) of the longitudinal measures of HbA1c and weight, patients were subdivided into four groups at each visit by glycaemic and weight responses; patients who failed to reduce both HbA1c and weight below WMs became the reference group (R). The other three groups corresponded to patients with HbA1c reduction (A), weight reduction (W) and both HbA1c and weight reduction (AW).Results: Compared with R, patients in AW, A and W groups had a significantly higher likelihood of improving SBP <130 mmHg by 88, 30 and 61%, respectively. Compared with R, patients in AW, A and W had 63, 13 and 45% higher likelihood of improving DBP <80 mmHg.Conclusion: Although the mechanism of BP‐lowering effect of exenatide is not established, it appears that the short‐term dynamics of BP is related to concomitant effects on glycaemia and body weight. These data offer a preliminary insight into the possible cardiometabolic effects of GLP‐1 receptor agonism.
The experience of surviving life‐threatening injury: a qualitative synthesis
Authors: Ogilvie R. , McCloughen A. , Curtis K. , Foster K. 
Published: April 2012

OGILVIE R., MCCLOUGHEN A., CURTIS K. & FOSTER K. (2012) The experience of surviving life‐threatening injury: a qualitative synthesis. International Nursing Review59, 312–320Background:  To summarize and synthesize research that explored the experience of surviving life‐threatening injury in adolescents, young persons and adults.Methods:  Informed by systematic literature review strategies, a description of the experience of individuals who survived life‐threatening injury was sought by reviewing 13 studies with qualitative data on the phenomena. Data were managed using NVivo software and synthesized using thematic analysis to elicit meaning.Results:  The review synthesized a substantial number (n = 273) of participant experiences of traumatic surviving life‐threatening injury and revealed that during the initial 3 years following life‐threatening injury, the individual goes through a shifting, iterative process in order to reconstruct various aspects of their injury and themselves, including mental, emotional, spiritual, physical and relational facets. Three major themes were illuminated: a time of chaos, negotiating injury and reconciling injury. In order to navigate through the experience of injury, family members were key sources of affirmation and support in anchoring the person to their life, in reconstructing themselves in the aftermath of injury and in coming to terms with the impacts of injury.Conclusion:  This qualitative synthesis describes the iterative process individuals go through following life‐threatening injury and the overwhelming need to reconstruct aspects of self as a way to create meaning. It demonstrates the need to gain further understanding of the influence of the family in recovery from injury and indicates that education is required to provide practical strategies to assist clinicians to develop appropriate and relevant patient goals and expectations.
The Dynamics of Influence in Corporate Co‐Evolution
Authors: Child John , Rodrigues Suzana B. , Tse Kenneth K‐T. 
Published: April 2012

abstractThis paper aims to offer new theoretical and empirical insights into co‐evolutionary development. Theoretically, it advances a political perspective which focuses on the role of power and how this can be translated into influence as an evolutionary driver through the relational framework between an organization and external parties. Empirically, the paper elaborates this perspective by reference to how China's largest container terminal evolved within a changing environment, and how its evolution in turn impacted on the evolution of its sector. In this case, the key relational framework was that between the organization and government institutions. Application of a political perspective to the case study suggests a theoretical model that can inform future research and practice.
Guest‐worker Migration, Human Capital and Fertility
Authors: Azarnert Leonid V. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis work focuses on a temporary guest‐worker‐type migration of individuals from the middle class of the wealth distribution. The article demonstrates that the possibility of a low‐skilled guest‐worker employment in a higher wage foreign country lowers the relative attractiveness of the skilled employment in the home country. Thus, it prevents a fraction of individuals from acquiring human capital. Therefore, even if all individuals who acquired education remain in the home country, the actual number of educated workers in the source economy decreases, and the aggregate level of human capital in this economy would thus be negatively affected.
Stakeholder Consultation as Social Mobilization: Framing Scottish Mental Health Policy
Authors: Sturdy Steve , Smith‐Merry Jennifer , Freeman Richard 
Published: April 2012

AbstractPublic and stakeholder consultation is increasingly important in the policy process, both in the UK and elsewhere. Social scientists have considered consultation primarily in terms of how it relates to decision‐making – either as a means of involving a wider constituency of actors in the decision‐making process, or as a means of legitimizing the decisions taken by policymakers. This article shows that consultation can also serve a rather different role in relation to policy: as, in effect, the first stage in policy implementation. Based on direct observation of a stakeholder consultation on Scottish mental health policy that took place during late 2007 and early 2008, it draws on elements of social movement theory to show how that consultation served as a means of enrolling, orienting and mobilizing stakeholders to implement a largely pre‐existing set of policy aims.
Disraeli, Derby and the Suez Canal, 1875: Some Myths Reassessed*
Authors: HICKS GEOFFREY 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis article reconsiders Britain's Suez Canal share purchase of November 1875. By means of close consideration of high politics and utilizing a range of overlooked sources, it proposes that a number of myths have arisen. It suggests that the role of the prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, has been exaggerated in the existing historiography, as has the resistance of his foreign secretary, the fifteenth earl of Derby. This obscures cabinet‐level debates in which there was a more sophisticated assessment of – and debate about – foreign policy objectives than has hitherto been presented. Accounts of the purchase have also tended to see it as the first sign of a new policy, that of an extended British commitment in Egypt. It is suggested here that such a commitment was, rather, the unintended consequence of a pragmatic policy. Instead, the intention was quite the opposite: to control and minimize British entanglements in the east.
Politicians and History: The National Curriculum, National Identity and the Revival of the National Narrative
Authors: SHELDON NICOLA 
Published: April 2012

AbstractSometime in the twenty years after 1960, the national story disappeared from English state schools. The creation of the first National Curriculum between 1989 and 1994, itself a novelty in English educational history, was seen by many on the right as the opportunity to restore the traditional national story. What actually resulted was a typical British compromise. The reasons for this outcome are explored here in the light of research evidence from the History in Education Project and in the face of renewed public discussion in recent months about the history curriculum in schools, and the impending national curriculum review.
Factors affecting mortality of shearwaters stranded by light pollution
Authors: Rodríguez A. , Rodríguez B. , Curbelo Á. J. , Pérez A. , Marrero S. , Negro J. J. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractEvery year and across the world, thousands of fledglings of different petrel species crash into human structures because they are disorientated by artificial lights during their first flights. As this phenomenon is rather predictable, rescue campaigns are organized to help birds to reach the ocean, but unfortunately, a low proportion gets hurt or dies. Despite the huge number of affected individuals, and the fact that the problem was detected a long time ago, little is known on this source of mortality. We have studied the factors (i.e. body condition, plumage development, fledging date and sex) influencing the mortality of Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea fledglings stranded inland due to light pollution in Tenerife (Canary Islands) during two consecutive breeding seasons (2009 and 2010). Late fledglings showed lower values of a body condition index than early ones. No sex biases were detected, neither considering stranded birds overall, nor for recovery dates or in the body condition of rescued fledglings. Our results indicate that late birds stranded by lights showing abundant down are more susceptible to fatal collisions and that the lights do not selectively kill birds with lower body condition indices. An enhancement of veterinary care should be done during the last part of the fledging period when more fatal collisions occur, especially focused on fledglings with abundant down. More research to determine why some individuals end up disoriented around artificial lights and others do not is urgently needed to minimize or prevent fallouts.