bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What's Up and What's Next in the Arena of Pollution Control? The New E-PRTR as a Tool towards Innovative Climate and Environmental Conservation Approaches
Authors: Bünger Dirk 
Published: December 2010

AbstractHaving regard to Article 192 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (ex Article 175 (1) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, TEC) the European Parliament and the Council have adopted Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 establishing the new European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). E-PRTR provides unprecedented environmental information to the public on pollutant releases and has the ambitious purpose of preventing and reducing environmental pollution. This contribution explores the reporting requirements of polluters and delineates approaches to reconcile those requirements as well as areas of possible utilisation of such data.
A Common Heritage: EU Environmental Law and National Judges
Authors: Burgues Julio Garcia , Tiberghien Frédéric , Lavrysen Luc , Kreins Yves , Heermann Werner 
Published: December 2010

AbstractEnforcement of EU environmental law is one of the most prominent challenges in the field of environmental policy. In this respect, national judges have to play a key-role for ensuring that EU environmental law is correctly applied. They have to guarantee that protection of environment as provided by EU law is a reality for more than 500 millions citizens. The recent new initiatives of judges and the Commission for developing co-operation among judges in Europe are demonstrating that, more than before, national judges are open to compare and discuss practises in different Member States.
Constructions of religiosity, subjective well-being, anxiety, and depression in two cultures: Kuwait and USA
Authors: Abdel-Khalek Ahmed M. , Lester David 
Published: December 2010

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to explore the associations of religiosity with subjective well-being (SWB) and psychopathology (anxiety and depression) among college students recruited from two different cultures, Kuwait ( n = 192) and the USA ( n = 158). Method: The students responded to the following scales in their native languages, Arabic and English, respectively: the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, the Love of Life Scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale. They also responded to six self-rating scales assessing happiness, satisfaction with life, mental health, physical health, religiosity and strength of religious belief. Results: The Kuwaiti students obtained higher mean scores on religiosity, religious belief and depression than did their American counterparts, whereas American students had higher mean scores on happiness and love of life. Two factors were extracted: ‘SWB versus psychopathology’ and ‘Religiosity’. Conclusion: Based on the responses of the present two samples, it was concluded that those who consider themselves as religious experienced greater well-being.
SMAD3 prevents graft-versus-host disease by restraining Th1 differentiation and granulocyte-mediated tissue damage
Authors: Giroux Martin , Delisle Jean-Sébastien , Gauthier Simon-David , Heinonen Krista M. , Hinsinger Julie , Houde Billy , Gaboury Louis , Brochu Sylvie , Wu Jiangping , Hébert Marie-Josée , Perreault Claude 
Published: December 2010

AbstractGene expression profiling of human donor T cells before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation revealed that expression of selected genes correlated with the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in recipients. The gene with the best GVHD predictive accuracy was SMAD3, a core component of the transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway, whose expression levels vary more than a 6-fold range in humans. The putative role of SMAD3 in the establishment of graft-host tolerance remained elusive. We report that SMAD3-KO mice present ostensibly normal lymphoid and myeloid cell subsets. However, the lack of SMAD3 dramatically increased the frequency and severity of GVHD after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation into major histocompatibility complex-identical recipients. Lethal GVHD induced by SMAD3-KO donors affected mainly the intestine and resulted from massive tissue infiltration by T-bet+ CD4 T cells and granulocytes that caused tissue damage by in situ release of Th1 cytokines and oxidative-nitrosative mediators, respectively. Our report reveals the nonredundant roles of SMAD3 in the development of tolerance to the host. Furthermore, our data support the concept that SMAD3 levels in donor cells dictate the risk of GVHD and that SMAD3 agonists would be attractive for prevention of GVHD.
NANOG induction of fetal liver kinase-1 (FLK1) transcription regulates endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis
Authors: Kohler Erin E. , Cowan Colleen E. , Chatterjee Ishita , Malik Asrar B. , Wary Kishore K. 
Published: December 2010

AbstractNANOG is a master transcription factor associated with the maintenance of stem cell pluripotency. Here, we demonstrate that transcription factor NANOG is expressed in cultured endothelial cells (ECs) and in a subset of tumor cell lines. Importantly, we provide evidence that WNT3A stimulation of ECs induces the transcription of NANOG which mediates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, also known as fetal liver kinase-1 (FLK1). We defined ATTA as a minimal binding site for NANOG. Accordingly, a luciferase reporter assay showed that NANOG binds to and activates 4 ATTA binding sites identified in the FLK1 promoter after WNT3A stimulation. Consistent with this data, we found that, under basal conditions and in response to WNT3A stimulation, NANOG binding to these ATTA sequences markedly induced the expression of FLK1. Thus, our data indicate an essential role in angiogenesis for NANOG binding to these 4 ATTA sites. Surprisingly, NANOG depletion not only decreased FLK1 expression but also reduced cell proliferation and angiogenesis. These findings show the necessary and sufficient role of NANOG in inducing the transcription of FLK1 to regulate the angiogenic phenotypes of ECs.
Apolipoprotein E receptor 2 is involved in the thrombotic complications in a murine model of the antiphospholipid syndrome
Authors: Romay-Penabad Zurina , Aguilar-Valenzuela Renan , Urbanus Rolf T. , Derksen Ronald H. W. M. , Pennings Maarten T. T. , Papalardo Elizabeth , Shilagard Tuya , Vargas Gracie , Hwang Yong , de Groot Philip G. , Pierangeli Silvia S. 
Published: December 2010

AbstractAntiphospholipid (aPL)/anti-β2 glycoprotein I (anti-β2GPI) antibodies stimulates tissue factor (TF) expression within vasculature and in blood cells, thereby leading to increased thrombosis. Several cellular receptors have been proposed to mediate these effects, but no convincing evidence for the involvement of a specific one has been provided. We investigated the role of Apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2′) on the pathogenic effects of a patient-derived polyclonal aPL IgG preparation (IgG-APS), a murine anti-β2GPI monoclonal antibody (E7) and of a constructed dimeric β2GPI I (dimer), which in vitro mimics β2GPI-antibody immune complexes, using an animal model of thrombosis, and ApoER2-deficient (−/−) mice. In wild type mice, IgG-APS, E7 and the dimer increased thrombus formation, carotid artery TF activity as well as peritoneal macrophage TF activity/expression. Those pathogenic effects were significantly reduced in ApoER2 (−/−) mice. In addition, those effects induced by the IgG-APS, by E7 and by the dimer were inhibited by treatment of wild-type mice with soluble binding domain 1 of ApoER2 (sBD1). Altogether these data show that ApoER2 is involved in pathogenesis of antiphospholipids antibodies.
BrEPS: a flexible and automatic protocol to compute enzyme-specific sequence profiles for functional annotation
Authors: Bannert C , Welfle A , aus dem Spring C , Schomburg D 
Published: December 2010

AbstractBackgroundModels for the simulation of metabolic networks require the accurate prediction of enzyme function. Based on a genomic sequence, enzymatic functions of gene products are today mainly predicted by sequence database searching and operon analysis. Other methods can support these techniques: We have developed an automatic method "BrEPS" that creates highly specific sequence patterns for the functional annotation of enzymes.ResultsThe enzymes in the UniprotKB are identified and their sequences compared against each other with BLAST. The enzymes are then clustered into a number of trees, where each tree node is associated with a set of EC-numbers. The enzyme sequences in the tree nodes are aligned with ClustalW. The conserved columns of the resulting multiple alignments are used to construct sequence patterns. In the last step, we verify the quality of the patterns by computing their specificity. Patterns with low specificity are omitted and recomputed further down in the tree. The final high-quality patterns can be used for functional annotation. We ran our protocol on a recent Swiss-Prot release and show statistics, as well as a comparison to PRIAM, a probabilistic method that is also specialized on the functional annotation of enzymes. We determine the amount of true positive annotations for five common microorganisms with data from BRENDA and AMENDA serving as standard of truth. BrEPS is almost on par with PRIAM, a fact which we discuss in the context of five manually investigated cases.ConclusionsOur protocol computes highly specific sequence patterns that can be used to support the functional annotation of enzymes. The main advantages of our method are that it is automatic and unsupervised, and quite fast once the patterns are evaluated. The results show that BrEPS can be a valuable addition to the reconstruction of metabolic networks.
Bacteriocyte dynamics during development of a holometabolous insect, the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus
Authors: Stoll Sascha , Feldhaar Heike , Fraunholz Martin J , Gross Roy 
Published: December 2010

Abstract

Background
The carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus harbors obligate intracellular mutualistic bacteria (Blochmannia floridanus) in specialized cells, the bacteriocytes, intercalated in their midgut tissue. The diffuse distribution of bacteriocytes over the midgut tissue is in contrast to many other insects carrying endosymbionts in specialized tissues which are often connected to the midgut but form a distinct organ, the bacteriome. C. floridanus is a holometabolous insect which undergoes a complete metamorphosis. During pupal stages a complete restructuring of the inner organs including the digestive tract takes place. So far, nothing was known about maintenance of endosymbionts during this life stage of a holometabolous insect. It was shown previously that the number of Blochmannia increases strongly during metamorphosis. This implicates an important function of Blochmannia in this developmental phase during which the animals are metabolically very active but do not have access to external food resources. Previous experiments have shown a nutritional contribution of the bacteria to host metabolism by production of essential amino acids and urease-mediated nitrogen recycling. In adult hosts the symbiosis appears to degenerate with increasing age of the animals.

Results
We investigated the distribution and dynamics of endosymbiotic bacteria and bacteriocytes at different stages during development of the animals from larva to imago by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The number of bacteriocytes in relation to symbiont-free midgut cells varied strongly over different developmental stages. Especially during metamorphosis the relative number of bacteria-filled bacteriocytes increased strongly when the larval midgut epithelium is shed. During this developmental stage the midgut itself became a huge symbiotic organ consisting almost exclusively of cells harboring bacteria. In fact, during this phase some bacteria were also found in midgut cells other than bacteriocytes indicating a cell-invasive capacity of Blochmannia. In adult animals the number of bacteriocytes generally decreased.

Conclusions
During the life cycle of the animals the distribution of bacteriocytes and of Blochmannia endosymbionts is remarkably dynamic. Our data show how the endosymbiont is retained within the midgut tissue during metamorphosis thereby ensuring the maintenance of the intracellular endosymbiosis despite a massive reorganization of the midgut tissue. The transformation of the entire midgut into a symbiotic organ during pupal stages underscores the important role of Blochmannia for its host in particular during metamorphosis.
Azelnidipine protects myocardium in hyperglycemia-induced cardiac damage
Authors: Kain Vasundhara , Kumar Sandeep , Puranik Amrutesh S , Sitasawad Sandhya L 
Published: December 2010

AbstractBackgroundAzelnidipine (AZL), a long-acting dihydropyridine-based calcium antagonist, has been recently approved and used for treating ischemic heart disease and cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction, however, its effect on hyperglycemia-induced cardiac damage has not been studied.MethodsThis study examined the effect of AZL on circulating markers of cardiac damage, altered lipid and cytokines profile and markers of oxidative stress including homocysteine in diabetic rats.ResultsSTZ induced diabetes caused a significant increase in blood glucose levels. It also resulted in an increase in the levels of homocysteine and cardiac damage markers, like Troponin-1, CK-MB, CK-NAC, uric acid, LDH and alkaline phosphatase. Moreover, there was an increase in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines like TNF-α, IFN-γ, and TGF-β and decrease in the levels of IL-4 and IL-10. Additionally, there was increase in the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL and a decrease in HDL in these animals. There was an altered antioxidant enzyme profile which resulted in a notable increase in the levels of oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxides, nitric oxide and carbonylated proteins. Compared with the untreated diabetic rats, AZL treatment significantly reduced the levels of troponin-1 (P < 0.05), CK-MB (P < 0.05), CK-NAC (P < 0.05), uric acid (P < 0.05), LDH (P < 0.05) and alkaline phosphatase (P < 0.05). It also reduced the levels of the TNF-α (P < 0.05), IFN-γ (P < 0.05), and TGF-β (P < 0.05) and increased the levels of IL-4 (P < 0.05). A significant decrease in the serum cholesterol (P < 0.05), triglycerides (P < 0.05), LDL (P < 0.05), VLDL (P < 0.05) and a significant rise in levels of HDL (P < 0.05) was also observed. Treatment with AZL corrected the distorted antioxidant enzyme profile resulting in a significant decrease in the levels of lipid peroxides, nitric oxide and carbonylated proteins.ConclusionOur results indicate that AZL treatment can reduce the risk of hyperglycemia induced metabolic disorders and its role can be further extended to explore its therapeutic potential in diabetic patients with cardiac complications.
Epidemiology and trends in non-fatal self-harm in three centres in England: 2000–2007
Authors: Bergen Helen , Hawton Keith , Waters Keith , Cooper Jayne , Kapur Navneet 
Published: December 2010

BackgroundSelf-harm is a common reason for presentation to a general hospital, with a strong association with suicide. Trends in self-harm are an important indicator of community psychopathology, with resource implications for health services and relevance to suicide prevention policy. Previous reports in the UK have come largely from single centres.AimsTo investigate trends in non-fatal self-harm in six general hospitals in three centres from the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England, and to relate these to trends in suicide.MethodData on self-harm presentations to general hospital emergency departments in Oxford (one), Manchester (three) and Derby (two) were analysed over the 8-year period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2007.ResultsRates of self-harm declined significantly over 8 years for males in three centres (Oxford: −14%; Manchester: −25%; Derby: −18%) and females in two centres (Oxford: −2% (not significant); Manchester: −13%; Derby: −17%), in keeping with national trends in suicide. A decreasing proportion and number of episodes involved self-poisoning alone, and an increasing proportion and number involved other self-injury (e.g. hanging, jumping, traffic related). Episodes involving self-cutting alone showed a slight decrease in numbers over time. Trends in alcohol use at the time of self-harm and repetition within 1 year were stable.ConclusionsThere were decreasing rates of non-fatal self-harm over the study period that paralleled trends in suicide in England. This was reflected mainly in a decline in emergency department presentations for self-poisoning.
Neuroanatomical correlates of psychosis in temporal lobe epilepsy: voxel-based morphometry study
Authors: Sundram Frederick , Cannon Mary , Doherty Colin P. , Barker Gareth J. , Fitzsimons Mary , Delanty Norman , Cotter David 
Published: December 2010

BackgroundTemporal lobe epilepsy is associated with a significant risk of psychosis but there are only limited studies investigating the underlying neurobiology.AimsTo characterise neuroanatomical changes in temporal lobe epilepsy and comorbid psychosis.MethodThe study population comprised all individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy on the epilepsy database at the National Centre for Epilepsy and Epilepsy Neurosurgery in Ireland (Beaumont Hospital) between 2002 and 2006. Ten people with temporal lobe epilepsy with psychosis were matched for age, gender, handedness, epilepsy duration, seizure laterality, severity of epilepsy and anti-epileptic medication with ten comparison participants with temporal lobe epilepsy only. Participants received a magnetic resonance imaging scan and voxel-based morphometry analyses were applied to grey and white matter anatomy.ResultsSignificant grey matter reduction was found bilaterally in those with temporal lobe epilepsy with psychosis in the temporal lobes in the inferior, middle and superior temporal gyri and fusiform gyri, and unilaterally in the left parahippocampal gyrus and hippocampus. Significant extra-temporal grey matter reduction was found bilaterally in the insula, cerebellum, caudate nuclei and in the right cingulum and left inferior parietal lobule. Significant white matter reduction in those with temporal lobe epilepsy with psychosis was found bilaterally in the hippocampus, parahippocampal/fusiform gyri, middle/inferior temporal gyri, cingulum, corpus callosum, posterior thalamic radiation, anterior limb of internal capsule and white matter fibres from the caudate nuclei, and unilaterally in the left lingual gyrus and right midbrain and superior temporal gyrus.ConclusionsSignificant grey and white matter deficits occur in temporal lobe epilepsy with psychosis. These encompass the medial temporal lobe structures but also extend to lateral temporal and extra-temporal regions. Some of these deficits overlap with those found in schizophrenia.
Effectiveness of home treatment for elderly people with depression: randomised controlled trial
Authors: Klug Günter , Hermann Gerhard , Fuchs-Nieder Brigitte , Panzer Manuela , Haider-Stipacek Andrea , Zapotoczky Hans Georg , Priebe Stefan 
Published: December 2010

BackgroundThere is little evidence available about what service models are effective in the treatment of elderly people with depression.AimsTo test the effectiveness of home treatment for elderly people with depression living independently.MethodIn a randomised controlled trial, 60 out-patients aged over 64 years with major depression were allocated to a home treatment model over a 1-year period or to conventional psychiatric out-patient care. The primary outcome was the level of depressive symptoms after 3 and 12 months. The secondary outcomes were global functioning, subjective quality of life (SQOL), admissions to nursing homes, duration of psychiatric hospital treatments and the cost of care.ResultsIndividuals receiving home treatment had significantly fewer symptoms of depression, better global functioning and a higher SQOL at 3 months and at 12 months. Over 1 year they had fewer admissions to nursing homes, spent less time in psychiatric in-patient care and the cost of care was lower.ConclusionsHome treatment appears an effective and cost-effective service model for elderly people with depression.
Survey of general practitioners' attitudes towards psychiatry
Authors: Thompson Catherine , Dogra Nisha , McKinley Robert 
Published: December 2010

Aims and methodThere is a lack of current data regarding attitudes of doctors towards psychiatry. General practitioners (GPs) are increasingly involved in teaching psychiatry, and their attitudes towards psychiatry may affect their ability to promote psychiatry. The main aim of the study is to inform on current attitudes of GPs towards psychiatry as a discipline. The Attitudes Towards Psychiatry (ATP-30) questionnaire was administered to all GPs within Shropshire.ResultsThe response rate was 61% (n = 145 from N = 239). The mean score for the ATP-30 was 113.9. An association was found between GP trainer status and higher ATP-30 scores. Positive associations were found between demographic data (age, length of career, postgraduate experience of psychiatry, involvement in undergraduate teaching, GP trainer status) and individual response items on the ATP-30 scale.Clinical implicationsGeneral practitioners in Shropshire have a positive attitude towards psychiatry. Associations between demographic data and ATP-30 scores indicate that GPs with more experience of psychiatry and those involved in training may have more positive attitudes. The main limitation of the study is the lack of proven validity of the scale for use in this population. The positive attitude towards psychiatry is consistent with GPs providing the role models needed if they are to be involved to a greater degree with teaching and promoting psychiatry as a career. The need for the development of a more specific tool or an update to the existing tool is discussed.
Custom and standard care: implications for the future role of doctors in mental health
Authors: Abed Riadh T. 
Published: December 2010

SummaryBohmer's concepts of custom and standard care are briefly discussed with specific reference to their implications for the role of doctors in mental health services. It is argued that these concepts help to clarify the unique contribution of doctors within multidisciplinary teams and help define the limits of standardisation in mental health services.
The cost and consequences of proximal femoral fractures which require further surgery following initial fixation
Authors: Thakar C. , Alsousou J. , Hamilton T. W. , Willett K. 
Published: December 2010

We evaluated the cost and consequences of proximal femoral fractures requiring further surgery because of complications. The data were collected prospectively in a standard manner from all patients with a proximal femoral fracture presenting to the trauma unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital over a five-year period. The total cost of treatment for each patient was calculated by separating it into its various components. The risk factors for the complications that arose, the location of their discharge and the mortality rates for these patients were compared to those of a matched control group. There were 2360 proximal femoral fractures in 2257 patients, of which 144 (6.1%) required further surgery. The mean cost of treatment in patients with complications was £18 709 (£2606.30 to £60.827.10), compared with £8610 (£918.54 to £45 601.30) for uncomplicated cases (p < 0.01), with a mean length of stay of 62.8 (44.5 to 79.3) and 32.7 (23.8 to 35.0) days, respectively. The probability of mortality after one month in these cases was significantly higher than in the control group, with a mean survival of 209 days, compared with 496 days for the controls. Patients with complications were statistically less likely to return to their own home (p < 0.01). Greater awareness and understanding are required to minimise the complications of proximal femoral fractures and consequently their cost.