bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health promotion behaviors of residents with hypertension in Iwate, Japan and North Carolina, USA
Authors: KEMPPAINEN Jeanne , BOMAR Perri J. , KIKUCHI Kazuko , KANEMATSU Yuriko , AMBO Hiroaki , NOGUCHI Kyoko 
Published: September 2010

AbstractAim:  The aim of this study was to compare the health promotion practises of rural residents in northern Japan (n = 212) to those in south‐eastern North Carolina, USA (n = 105), using the Health Promotion Lifestyle II (HPLP) scale.Methods:  A comparative and descriptive design examined the relationships between health‐related behaviors and demographic and physiological variables, and compared cross‐cultural patterns.Results:  The Japanese participants scored significantly higher on the total HPLP II score, as well as on the subscales of health responsibility, nutrition, interpersonal support, and stress management. No significant differences were found in the HPLP II subscales for spiritual growth or physical activity between the groups. The subscale scores for both the participants from Japan and the participants from North Carolina were lowest for physical activity. For the participants from North Carolina, the HPLP II subscale scores were highest for spirituality and interpersonal relationships. The predictive factors of variation in the scores of the HPLP II for the participants from North Carolina included being married and not working. No significant demographic predictor was found for the HPLP II scores of the Japanese participants.Conclusions:  The study's findings add to an increased understanding of the cultural variations in the health‐promoting behaviors of persons with hypertension. Providing health promotion strategies for hypertension remains an urgent issue for nurses and other health‐care providers in both Japan and North Carolina, USA.
Evaluation of Blood Purification and Bortezomib Plus Dexamethasone Therapy for the Treatment of Acute Renal Failure Due to Myeloma Cast Nephropathy
Authors: Hasegawa Midori , Kondo Fumiko , Yamamoto Koichiro , Murakami Kazutaka , Tomita Makoto , Nabeshima Kunihiro , Nakai Shigeru , Kato Masao , Ohashi Atsushi , Arai Jiro , Hiki Yoshiyuki , Ishii Junichi , Emi Nobuhiko , Sugiyama Satoshi , Yuzawa Yukio 
Published: September 2010

AbstractAggressive removal of circulating free light chains (FLC) by blood purification accompanied by chemotherapy is a promising approach for the treatment of acute renal failure due to myeloma cast nephropathy. Plasma exchange has been performed to remove serum FLC; in order to examine an alternative strategy we performed hemodiafiltration using protein‐leaking dialyzers for the treatment of dialysis‐dependent acute renal failure due to myeloma cast nephropathy. In the first case with κ‐light chain cast nephropathy, the pre‐treatment serum creatinine was 9.65 mg/dL, and the serum κ‐FLC was 27 100 mg/L. Plasma exchange or hemodiafiltration was performed from Monday to Friday during the first several weeks. Chemotherapy was started with high‐dose dexamethasone and then switched to bortezomib plus dexamethasone. The mean removal rates of κ‐FLC were 45.8% (one plasma volume) and 66.9% (one‐and‐a‐half plasma volumes) by plasma exchange. The removal rates of κ‐FLC by hemodiafiltration (66.9%, FB210UHβ; 71.6%, PES210Dα; 75.2%, FXS220) were comparable to those by plasma exchange. In the second case with λ‐light chain cast nephropathy, the pre‐treatment serum creatinine was 4.14 mg/dL, and the serum λ‐FLC was 4140 mg/L. The mean removal rates of λ‐FLC were 60.2% (FXS140) and 64.2% (FB210UHβ) by hemodiafiltration. Both cases became dialysis‐independent. The combination of an intense blood purification regimen and bortezomib plus dexamethasone therapy appears to be an efficient approach to renal recovery. Hemodiafiltration using protein‐leaking dialyzers could become an alternative to plasma exchange as a method of removing FLC.
Multicenter Study of Plasma Diafiltration in Patients With Acute Liver Failure
Authors: Nakae Hajime , Eguchi Yutaka , Saotome Takao , Yoshioka Toyokazu , Yoshimura Noriko , Kishi Yuki , Naka Toshio , Furuya Tomoki 
Published: September 2010

AbstractPlasma diafiltration (PDF) is a blood purification therapy in which simple plasma exchange (PE) is performed using a selective membrane plasma separator while the dialysate flows outside the hollow fibers. A prospective, multicenter study was undertaken to evaluate the changes in bilirubin, IL‐18, and cystatin C, as well as the 28‐day and 90‐day survival rates, with the use of PDF according to the level of severity as measured by the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. Twenty‐one patients with liver failure were studied: 10 patients had fulminant hepatitis and PDF therapies were performed 28 times; 11 had acute liver failure with the therapy performed 96 times. Levels of total bilirubin, IL‐18, and cystatin C decreased significantly after treatment. The 28‐day survival rate was 70.0% and that at 90 days was 16.7%. According to the severity of the MELD score, each of the results compared well with the use of Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System or Prometheus therapy. In conclusion, PDF appears to be one of the most useful blood purification therapies for use in cases of acute liver failure in terms of medical economics and the removal of water‐soluble and albumin‐bound toxins.
The impact of stellar model spectra in disc detection
Authors: Sinclair J. A. , Helling Ch. , Greaves J. S. 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
We present a study of the impact of different model groups in the detection of circumstellar debris discs. Almost all previous studies in this field have used kurucz (atlas9) model spectra to predict the stellar contribution to the flux at the wavelength of observation, thus determining the existence of a disc excess. Only recently have other model groups or families like marcs and nextgen (phoenix) become available to the same extent as atlas9. This study aims to determine whether the predicted stellar flux of a disc target can change with the choice of model family – can a disc excess be present in the use of one model family whilst being absent from another. A simple comparison of kurucz model spectra with marcs and nextgen model spectra of identical stellar parameters was conducted and differences were present at near-infrared wavelengths. Model spectra often do not extend in wavelength to that of observation and therefore extrapolation of the spectrum is required. In extrapolation of model spectra to the Spitzer MIPS passbands, prediction of the stellar contribution differed by 5 per cent at 70 μm for F, G and early K spectral types with differences increasing to 15 per cent for early M dwarfs. Analysis of the Spitzermips 24-μm observations of 37 F, G and K solar-like stars in the Pleiades cluster was conducted. In using kurucz model spectra, seven disc excesses were detected while only three and four excesses were detected in using marcs and nextgen (phoenix) model spectra, respectively.
The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System*
Authors: French Kenneth , Baily Martin , Campbell John , Cochrane John , Diamond Douglas , Duffie Darrell , Kashyap Anil , Mishkin Frederic , Rajan Raghuram , Scharfstein David , Shiller Robert , Shin Hyun Song , Slaughter Matthew , Stein Jeremy , Stulz René 
Published: September 2010

In these excerpts from The Squam Lake Report, fifteen distinguished economists analyze where the global financial system failed, and how such failures might be prevented (or at least their damage better contained) in the future. Although there were many contributing factors to the crisis—including “agency” problems throughout the financial system and a bankruptcy code poorly suited for reorganizing financial firms—at the core of the problem is a potential conflict between the risk‐taking proclivity of financial institutions and the interests of the economy at large that must be managed at least in part through more effective regulation. The Squam Lake Report provides a nonpartisan plan to transform the regulation of financial markets in ways designed to limit systemic risk while preserving—to the extent possible and prudent—the economies of scale and scope that justify the existence of today's large financial institutions.To reduce the risks that large banks will fail, the authors call for higher capital requirements based on more effective assessments of the risks of bank assets and liabilities, as well as a new systemic regulator that should be part of the central bank. To reduce the costs of failure when it occurs, the authors propose that banks be required to create “living wills” laying out their plan to sell assets or shut down operations in the event of financial trouble. As part of that plan, regulators are urged to “aggressively encourage” banks to issue “contingent” debt capital securities that convert into equity.
Thoughts on The Squam Lake Report: Reengineering the Financial System to Better Withstand Extreme Volatility
Authors: Posner Kenneth A. 
Published: September 2010

The most important contributions of The Squam Lake Report are its analysis and recommendations not for eliminating the possibility of future crises, but for enabling the financial system to better withstand the bouts of volatility that are a natural outcome of market forces. In this regard, the Report's most promising proposal is its prescription that systemically important financial firms issue “contingent capital” that converts from debt to equity when a financial firm's solvency is at risk.But if contingent capital is a good idea, the author argues that the Squam Lake proposal should be complemented by three features not addressed by the report. First, systemically important financials must be required, not just encouraged, to issue contingent capital. Second, contingent capital should not count toward normal regulatory capital requirements but function as a supplemental cushion against the possibility of crisis. Third, financial institutions should be prohibited from holding contingent capital securities issued by other financials so that losses are channeled outside of the financial system. In addition, the actual conversion of contingent capital should not depend on regulators' declaration of a financial crisis, but should occur once critical capital thresholds are breached.
Derivatives Clearing Mandates: Cure or Curse?
Authors: Pirrong Craig 
Published: September 2010

The Dodd‐Frank Act mandates the widespread adoption of centralized clearing of OTC derivatives and also includes measures designed to move more derivatives trading onto exchanges. But, as the author points out, such a clearing mandate appears to be based on the premise that the recent experience in OTC derivatives represents a major market failure and that participants in what is now the world's largest financial market have been systematically choosing the wrong institutions for risk management and trading.In this article, the author begins by explaining why all derivatives are not cleared or exchange‐traded, and why the attempt to mandate such practices (as opposed to encouraging voluntary adoption through differential capital requirements) could have serious unwanted consequences. Among such consequences is a possible increase in the very systemic risk that such mandates are supposed to prevent.
Bond Rating Agencies: Conflicts and Competence
Authors: Fridson Martin 
Published: September 2010

Faulty ratings of mortgage‐related collateralized bond obligations played a prominent role in the financial crisis of 2008. Some critics charge that the rating agencies did not merely make honest mistakes, but were hopelessly conflicted by their practice of collecting revenue from the bond issuers. According to the author, however, that same fee arrangement did not prevent the agencies from achieving considerable aggregate ‐level accuracy in other segments of the debt market. Given that the bad credit assessments were largely limited to structured finance deals, and that there appears to be no workable alternative to the issuer‐pay model, the best prescription for the agencies going forward is likely to be additional safeguards for situations in which the associated conflicts of interest appear especially difficult to manage.Also contradicting the testimony of many market participants, the author's analysis of new issue pricing and price changes suggests that the market generally views ratings on corporate and municipal debt as useful (if not always the most timely) indicators of risk. Moreover, the critics' favorite anecdotal example of rating agency failure, the Enron case history, turns out to be specious on closer examination. The standard account of Enron's collapse omits the fact that both Moody's and Standard & Poor's “watchlisted” the energy trading company and warned investors that its investment‐grade rating was contingent on a proposed acquisition by an investment‐grade competitor that failed (at the last minute) to close.
Banking System Bailout‐Scandinavian Style
Authors: Eckbo B. Espen 
Published: September 2010

During the Scandinavian banking crisis in the early 1990s, Norway and Sweden chose somewhat different routes to crisis resolution, though both involved government intervention and both proved effective. The Norwegian government injected a hybrid debt‐equity form of capital into the largest commercial bank, though only after first extinguishing old equity claims. The Swedish government issued a system‐wide debt guarantee and allowed shareholders to maintain their equity stakes, provided they also contributed new equity capital to the banks. In the (single) case where equityholders refused to participate, the government took over the bank and divided it into a “good” and “bad” part, with the latter holding the non‐performing loans.The resolution of banking system problems in Scandinavia provides a useful precedent for the recent “bailout” of the U.S. banking system, which, after some initial trial and errors, also involved government ownership of shares in financial institutions. As the author notes in closing, the Scandinavian experience is also relevant for addressing the question of how the U.S. government, having effectively become “owner of last resort” in key financial institutions, should handle its controlling equity stakes.
Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis (Or Why Capital Structure Is Too Important to Be Left to Regulation)
Authors: Kantor Brian , Holdsworth Christopher 
Published: September 2010

Given the likelihood of periodic financial crises, much of the focus of policymakers should be on the proper response to rather than the prevention of crises. In this article, the authors begin by repeating Walter Bagehot's famous prescription for resolving financial trouble in the 19thcentury London money market: flood the system with liquidity and do all that can be done to keep the capital markets open and functioning. Although this message was disastrously ignored by the Federal Reserve Bank of 1929–33, Bagehot's advice was well understood by the Fed and U.S. Treasury in managing the crisis of 2008.For regulators and bank executives alike, the capital of consequence that stands between financial institutions and their ruin is not the capital on their books, but the market value of their equity capital. The ability to raise capital from the marketplace—if need be, from its own shareholders—may well prove the essential factor in a company's ability to weather a crisis. Using a variation of Robert Merton's option pricing model, the authors show how and why the share price volatility associated with a financial crisis threatens solvency and how companies can measure their rising default risks and act in good times to raise fresh capital to cope with depleted balance sheets. Regulations designed to prevent future crises should not be allowed to threaten the profitability of financial activity to the point where raising fresh capital from private markets no longer makes economic sense.
Global Health Governance and the Challenge of Chronic, Non-Communicable Disease
Authors: Magnusson Roger S. 
Published: September 2010

Judging by their contribution to the global burden of death and disability, chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the most serious health challenge facing the world today. The statistics tell a frightening story. Over 35 million people died from chronic diseases in 2005 — principally cardiovascular disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. Driven by population growth and population ageing, deaths from non-communicable diseases are expected to increase by 17% over the period 2005-2015, accounting for 69% of global deaths by 2030.Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa, is estimated to rise from 17.1 million deaths (2004) to 23.4 million deaths (2030). Cancer deaths will increase from 7.4 million to 11.8 million over the same period. Due to population growth, mergers and acquisitions, and the marketing of global cigarette brands in developing countries, deaths from tobacco will rise from 5.4 million per year (2005), through 6.4 million (2015), to 8.3 million by 2030. These figures include a doubling in tobacco deaths in low- and middle-income countries from 3.4 million to 6.8 million lives annually. By 2015, smoking will cause 50% more deaths than HIV/AIDS.
Death, Brain Death, and the Limits of Science: Why the Whole-Brain Concept of Death is a Flawed Public Policy
Authors: Nair-Collins Mike 
Published: September 2010

The 1981 Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) states:An individual that has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead.The “whole-brain concept of death,” appealed to in the UDDA, has been roundly criticized for many years. However, despite a great deal of legitimate criticism in academic circles no real clinical or legislative changes have come about. At least one reason for this inertia is aptly stated by James Bernat, one of the principal and founding proponents of the brain death doctrine: “In the real world of public policy on biological issues, we must frequently make compromises or approximations to achieve acceptable practices and laws.” While acknowledging that the brain death doctrine is not flawless and that he and other proponents have been unable to address all valid criticisms, Bernat nonetheless maintains that the brain death doctrine is optimal public policy.
Effect of Laser and LED on Enzymatic Production of Ceramide
Authors: Zhang Hongyu , Zhang Long , Tidemand‐Lichtenberg Peter , Buchhave Preben , Xu Xuebing , Li Yingxin 
Published: September 2010

AbstractAn enzyme (Phospholipase C Type I from Clostridium perfringens) was exposed to 0–810 J cm−2 of energy using laser light at wavelengths 808, 532, 1064 and 1342 nm and two LED light sources at wavelengths 810 and 640 nm. Enzyme responses were evaluated by measuring ceramide concentration using high performance thin‐layer chromatography (HPTLC) at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 17, 24 h after irradiation. The duration of effect was evaluated from the experimental data. The results show that enzyme activity can be increased by using both laser and LED sources whose wavelength is located within a certain range. The effect depends on the energy and wavelength of the light. The increase in enzyme activity continued for about 4 h after irradiation. This study shows that the duration of irradiation should be included as one of the main laser parameters when reporting on the effects of laser irradiation on enzymes. We also find that laser sources and LED sources have the same effect on enzyme activity if the wavelength and absorbed energy are equal.
Susceptibility to 5‐Aminolevulinic Acid Based Photodynamic Therapy in WHO I Meningioma Cells Corresponds to Ferrochelatase Activity
Authors: Hefti Martin , Holenstein Fabian , Albert Ina , Looser Herbert , Luginbuehl Vera 
Published: September 2010

Abstract5‐Aminolevulinic acid (5‐ALA) is a natural precursor of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which can be used as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Accumulation of PpIX in benign meningioma cells has been observed previously, its exploitation for PDT, however, was discouraged by inconsistent results. To evaluate PDT for benign meningiomas, we investigated PpIX synthesis in two human meningioma cell lines (HBL‐52 and BEN‐MEN‐1), their respective extracellular loss of PpIX and corresponding ferrochelatase (FECH) activity as well as their susceptibility to PDT. We demonstrated PpIX production after 5‐ALA administration and minor loss to the extracellular space in both cell lines. However, significantly more (up to five times) PpIX was accumulated in BEN‐MEN‐1 as compared with HBL‐52 cells. FECH activity was 2.7‐fold higher in HBL‐52 compared with BEN‐MEN‐1 cells and accordingly higher FECH levels could be shown in HBL‐52 cells by Western blot analysis. BEN‐MEN‐1 cells were much more sensitive to PDT and cells could be almost completely killed by irradiation doses of 2 J cm−2, whereas HBL‐52 showed only an insufficient response at this irradiation dose. We conclude that differences in intracellular PpIX concentrations between HBL‐52 and BEN‐MEN‐1 benign meningioma cells were mainly due to differences in FECH activity and that these differences correspond to their susceptibility to 5‐ALA‐induced PDT.
Acetate Versus Sulfur Deprivation Role in Creating Anaerobiosis in Light for Hydrogen Production by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Spirulina platensis: Two Different Organisms and Two Different Mechanisms
Authors: Morsy Fatthy Mohamed 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThis work was devoted to separate acetate role in creating anaerobiosis from that of sulfur deprivation. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii grown in TAP (Tris–acetate–phosphate) medium was resuspended in sulfur‐replete or ‐deprived medium in sealed or nonsealed cultures. Sulfur deprivation was substantial for starch accumulation and hydrogen evolution; however, acetate induced anaerobiosis in the presence or absence of sulfur in only sealed cultures. In nonsealed cultures, Chlamydomonas did not lose its photosynthetic activity; however, it was arrested in anoxia with no photosynthetic activity as long as the culture was sealed. The sealed cultures resumed photosynthesis upon unsealing overnight unless the cells died by anoxia at late stage of the experiment. These results indicate that the enhanced oxygen consumption for the enormous acetate respiration and inhibition of the external oxygen supply in sealed cultures of Chlamydomonas are the main reasons for the steady anaerobic conditions. Although acetate was substantial for creating anaerobiosis in Chlamydomonas, sulfur deprivation alone could create anaerobiosis in Spirulina platensis grown autotrophically. Hydrogen evolution and glycogen accumulation were induced under such conditions. Severely reduced phycocyanin, chlorophyll and photosynthesis, while respiration had increased, induced anaerobiosis in Spirulina. This study reports for the first time anaerobiosis under autotrophic conditions in a cyanobacterium.