bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prebiotic treatment in experimental colitis reduces the risk of colitic cancer
Authors: Komiyama Yutaka , Mitsuyama Keiichi , Masuda Jyunya , Yamasaki Hiroshi , Takedatsu Hidetoshi , Andoh Akira , Tsuruta Osamu , Fukuda Masanobu , Kanauchi Osamu 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Germinated barley foodstuff (GBF) is a prebiotic product that reduces colonic mucosal inflammation and the clinical symptoms observed in ulcerative colitis (UC). The risk of contracting colorectal cancer is higher in patients with UC than in that of the general population. The aim of this study is to apply this prebiotic approach to control chronic colitis and to reduce the incidence of colitic cancer.Methods:  Repeated and intermitted dextran sulfate sodium administration to male Sprague–Dawley rats was used for the chronic and subacute colitis models. GBF was added as the diet (10% w/v). The incidence of adenomatous high‐grade dysplasia, and pathophysiological observations, including the proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling index, and clinical score, cecal organic acid profile, and the accompanying β‐glucosidase activity were determined.Results:  In the chronic phase, the incidence of adenomatous dysplasia was only confirmed in the control group, and the GBF group had no dysplasia in the entire colon; the stratified squamous epithelium area of GBF was significantly lower than that of the controls. GBF treatment significantly lowered the cecal succinate content and significantly increased β‐glucosidase activity compared to the controls. In addition, colonic mucosal inflammatory damage was comparable between the two groups, while the PCNA labeling index of the colonic mucosa in the GBF group was significantly lower than that of the control group. However, in the subacute phase, the mucosal damage score of GBF was significantly attenuated, and the PCNA labeling index of the colonic mucosa in the GBF group was significantly higher than that of the control group.Conclusion:  This preliminary study demonstrated that GBF effectively prevents colitis‐related dysplasia and inflammatory change in chronic and subacute colitis models by modulating the intestinal environment as a prebiotic. This prebiotic might contribute to the prevention of mucosal damage, to show different proliferative effects on the epithelium in the regeneration and steady states.
Genetic background is different between sentinel and recurrent acute pancreatitis
Authors: Masamune Atsushi , Ariga Hiroyuki , Kume Kiyoshi , Kakuta Yoichi , Satoh Kennichi , Satoh Akihiko , Shimosegawa Tooru 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Previous studies have shown an association of variants in trypsin‐associated genes, such as cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) and serine protease inhibitor, Kazal type‐1 (SPINK1) with pancreatitis. However, whether these genetic variants are associated with acute pancreatitis (AP) remains largely unknown, especially when the first attack is separated from recurrent attacks.Methods:  A total of 261 patients with AP (174 with a sentinel attack, and 87 with recurrent attacks) and healthy controls were genotyped for the p.R122H mutation in the PRSS1 gene, p.N34S and IVS3 + 2T > C variants in the SPINK1 gene, the p.G191R variant in the anionic trypsinogen gene, the p.E32del variant in the mesotrypsinogen (PRSS3) gene, and the −2518G > A variant in the monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 gene by polymerase chain reaction–restriction enzyme digestion and direct sequencing.Results:  Patients with recurrent attacks were younger. The proportions of biliary pancreatitis and severe cases were lower, and that of idiopathic pancreatitis was higher in patients with a sentinel attack than in those with recurrent attacks. The frequencies of the genetic variants examined did not differ between controls and patients with sentinel pancreatitis. The frequencies of the PRSS1 p.R122H mutation, SPINK1 p.N34S variant, and PRSS3 p.E32del variant, but not other genetic variants, were higher in patients with recurrent attacks than in controls or those with a sentinel attack.Conclusions:  The PRSS1 p.R122H mutation, SPINK1 p.N34S, and PRSS3 p.E32del variants were associated with recurrent, but not sentinel AP. The genetic background could possibly be different between sentinel and recurrent AP.
Management of asymptomatic hyperuricaemia in patients with chronic kidney disease by Japanese nephrologists: A questionnaire survey
Authors: NAKAYA IZAYA , NAMIKOSHI TAMEHACHI , TSURUTA YUKI , NAKATA TAKESHI , SHIBAGAKI YUGO , ONISHI YOSHIHIRO , FUKUHARA SHUNICHI 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTAim:  Hyperuricaemia is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and cardiovascular events (CVE). In a US study, only 4% of rheumatologists initiated urate‐lowering therapy in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricaemia (AHU). The present study aimed to clarify how Japanese board‐certified nephrologists manage AHU in CKD patients.Methods:  Questionnaires on management of AHU in CKD stage 3 or more were mailed to 1500 Japanese board‐certified nephrologists, excluding paediatricians and urologists, randomly selected from the directory of the Japanese Society of Nephrology (n = 2976).Results:  Five hundred and ninety‐five nephrologists (40%) responded. Most nephrologists (84–89%) recommended that AHU in patients in CKD stages 3–5 should be treated, but fewer nephrologists (63%) recommended that AHU in patients of CKD stage 5D should be treated. The serum urate level to start urate‐lowering therapy and the target serum urate level to be achieved (mg/dL) were 8.2 ± 0.9 and 6.9 ± 0.9, 8.4 ± 0.9 and 7.0 ± 1.0, 8.6 ± 1.0 and 7.3 ± 1.1, and 9.1 ± 1.2 and 7.8 ± 1.3 at stages 3, 4, 5 and 5D, respectively. The most frequently used maximal dosage of allopurinol was 100 mg/day at each stage. Benzbromarone was used in 52% of patients at stage 3, but only in 29%, 13% and 5% of patients at stages 4, 5 and 5D, respectively. The most important reasons to treat AHU at CKD stages 3–5 were prevention of CKD progression (45%), CVE (33%), gout (18%) and urolithiasis (3%).Conclusion:  Most Japanese nephrologists treat AHU in pre‐dialysis CKD with an aim to prevent CKD progression or CVE mainly by allopurinol.
Renoprotective efficacy of valsartan in chronic non‐diabetic proteinuric nephropathies with renin–angiotensin system gene polymorphisms
Authors: LEE YU‐JI , JANG HYE RYOUN , KIM SEONG GYUN , CHAE DONG‐WAN , DO JUN‐YOUNG , LEE JUNG EUN , HUH WOOSEONG , KIM DAE JOONG , OH HA YOUNG , KIM YOON‐GOO 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTAim:  The renoprotective effects of angiotensin receptor blockers vary considerably among individuals. We investigated the renoprotective effects of valsartan according to polymorphisms of the renin–angiotensin system and transforming growth factor‐b1 (TGFB1) genes in patients with chronic non‐diabetic proteinuric nephropathies.Methods:  Two hundred and thirty‐nine non‐diabetic patients with proteinuria of at least 1 g/day were enrolled. Patients received 80 mg of valsartan daily, followed by 160 mg/day after 6 weeks. The follow‐up period was 18 months. The status of the angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion, angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T, type 1 angiotensin II receptor (ATR1) A1166C, and TGFB1 C509 and T869C polymorphisms was determined in 162 patients.Results:  Valsartan treatment caused a significant reduction in proteinuria from baseline throughout the study in patients with each genotype of the ACE, AGT and TGFB1 genes. However, patients with the ATR1 AC genotype had no significant reduction in proteinuria from baseline throughout the study course. The median reductions in proteinuria after 6 months were 45.7% and 10.8% in the patients with the ATR1 AA and AC genotypes, respectively (P = 0.034). The annual change in the estimated glomerular filtration rate did not differ significantly among the genotypes for each gene. On multiple regression analysis, the change in proteinuria after 6 months of treatment was independently associated with the ATR1 genotype and the change in blood pressure (P = 0.005 and 0.019, respectively).Conclusion:  Valsartan treatment significantly reduced the blood pressure and urinary protein excretion of patients with chronic non‐diabetic proteinuric nephropathies. Interindividual differences in the anti‐proteinuric effect of valsartan may be related partly to the ATR1 A1166C polymorphism.
Gene expression of TWEAK/Fn14 and IP‐10/CXCR3 in glomerulus and tubulointerstitium of patients with lupus nephritis
Authors: LU JIANXIN , KWAN BONNIE CHING‐HA , LAI FERNAND MAC‐MOUNE , CHOI PAUL CHEUNG‐LUNG , TAM LAI‐SHAN , LI EDMUND KWOK‐MING , CHOW KAI‐MING , WANG GANG , LI PHILIP KAM‐TAO , SZETO CHEUK‐CHUN 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTAim:  The role of the tumour necrosis factor‐like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK)/Fn14 and interferon‐inducible protein (IP‐10)/CXCR3 axis in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis were studied.Methods:  The mRNA expression of TWEAK, Fn14, IP‐10 and CXCR3 were quantified in the glomerulus and tubulointerstitium of 42 patients with lupus nephritis (LN group) and 10 healthy controls.Results:  As compared to controls, LN patients had higher glomerular expression of TWEAK and Fn14, but glomerular CXCR3 expression was lower in the LN group. Similarly, the LN group had higher tubulointerstitial expression of TWEAK and Fn14, but lower tubulointerstitial expression of CXCR3, than controls. Glomerular TWEAK expression of class V nephritis was significantly higher than class IV nephritis. Glomerular expression of CXCR3 significantly correlated with proteinuria (r = −0.532; P = 0.019), whereas tubulointerstitial CXCR3 significantly correlated with serum creatinine (r = −0.447; P = 0.029).Conclusion:  In patients with lupus nephritis, there is an increase in intra‐renal expression of TWEAK and Fn14, and a decrease in CXCR3 expression. Intra‐renal expression of CXCR3 correlates with proteinuria and renal function. Our findings suggest that the TWEAK/Fn14 and IP‐10/CXCR3 axis may contribute to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.
Prognostic value of dynamic soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with ventilator‐associated pneumonia
Authors: WU CHIEN‐LIANG , LU YEN‐TA , KUNG YU‐CHUNG , LEE CHAO‐HSIEN , PENG MING‐JEN 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTBackground and objective:  The aim of this study was to investigate the time course, and correlation with prognosis, of BAL fluid concentrations of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (sTREM‐1) in patients with ventilator‐associated pneumonia (VAP).Methods:  The study included 35 patients with clinically diagnosed VAP, eight of whom were BAL fluid culture‐negative and 27 BAL fluid culture‐positive (16 survivors, 11 non‐survivors). sTREM‐1 levels were measured in BAL fluid of these mechanically ventilated patients, at the time of diagnosis, on days 4–5 and on days 7–9. The time course of this biomarker and its prognostic value for outcome in patients with culture‐positive VAP were assessed.Results:  sTREM‐1 concentrations were significantly greater in culture‐positive VAP patients than in culture‐negative VAP patients. sTREM‐1 levels decreased significantly with time in surviving patients with culture‐positive VAP, but increased significantly with time in non‐survivors. In contrast, PaO2/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) increased significantly with time in survivors and decreased significantly with time in non‐survivors. At a cut‐off value of −10 pg/mL 7–9 days after initial diagnosis, sTREM levels had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 87.5% for predicting mortality.Conclusions:  sTREM‐1 concentrations in BAL fluid are of potential prognostic value in patients with VAP.
Split stoma in resectional surgery of high‐risk patients with ileocolonic Crohn’s disease
Authors: Myrelid P. , Söderholm J. D. , Olaison G. , Sjödahl R. , Andersson P. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractAim  The aim of this retrospective study of ileocolonic resection in patients with Crohn’s disease was to compare the outcome of primary anastomosis with that of split stoma and delayed anastomosis in a high‐risk setting.Method  From 1995 to 2006, 132 patients had 146 operations for ileocolonic Crohn’s disease. Preoperative data, including risk factors for complications, were obtained from a prospectively registered database. Operations on patients who had two or more preoperative risk factors (n = 76) were considered to be high‐risk operations and formed the main study. Primary outcome variables were postoperative anastomotic complications and the alteration in the number of preoperative risk factors achieved by a delayed anastomosis. Secondary outcome was time in hospital and the number of operations performed.Results  Early anastomotic complications were diagnosed in 19% (11/57) of patients receiving a primary anastomosis compared with 0% (0/19) of patients after a delayed anastomosis (P = 0.038). The mean number of risk factors in the split stoma group was 3.5 at the time of resection and 0.2 when the split stoma was reversed (P < 0.0001). The total number of operations was 1.9 ± 1.5 (mean ± SD) after a primary anastomosis and 2.0 ± 0.2 after a split stoma (P = 0.70). Total in‐hospital time for all operations was 20.9 ± 35.6 days after a primary anastomosis and 17.8 ± 10.4 days after a delayed anastomosis (P = 0.74).Conclusion  Delayed anastomosis after ileocolonic resection in high‐risk Crohn’s disease patients was associated with a reduction in the number of preoperative risk factors and fewer anastomotic complications. Hospital stay and number of operations were similar after delayed and primary anastomosis in high‐risk patients.
People living with diabetes resident in nursing homes—assessing levels of disability and nursing needs
Authors: Gadsby R. , Barker P. , Sinclair A. 
Published: February 2011

Diabet. Med. 28, 778–780 (2011)AbstractAims  To describe the degree of disability and nursing need of people living with diabetes resident in nursing homes in one Primary Care Trust in the UK.Methods  A retrospective case notes review of 75 people with known diabetes who were resident in the 11 nursing homes in Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust.Results  Very significant levels of disability and nursing need were documented in areas of continence, feeding, mobility and communication. Each individual had a mean of four co‐morbidities (range 1–8), excluding diabetes. Using the definition of terminal illness based on a negative answer to the question ‘would I be surprised if my patient were to die in the next 12 months’ it is likely that the majority of individuals described in this study would be classified as being terminally ill.Conclusion  Using four practical clinical measures, this study has shown very significant levels of disability and nursing care need in this population of mainly elderly people resident in nursing homes in Coventry. In addition, it has demonstrated that a large proportion of nursing home residents with diabetes can be considered to be in the terminal phase of life, a period where many other factors interplay in how care should be delivered and what outcomes are appropriate. In fact, residents in this category may well be candidates for a considered withdrawal of treatments, but not of care.
PRIMITIVE CAUSAL RELATIONS AND THE PAIRING PROBLEM
Authors: Audi Paul 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThere is no doubt that spatial relations aid us in pairing up causes and effects. But when we consider the possibility of qualitatively indiscernible things, it might seem that spatial relations are more than a mere aid – they might seem positively required. The belief that spatial relations are required for causal relations is behind an important objection to Cartesian Dualism, the pairing problem. I argue that the Cartesian can answer this objection by appeal to the possibility of primitive causal relations, a possibility I defend. This topic is of importance beyond the philosophy of mind; the possibility that causal relations might sometimes hold brutely is of general metaphysical importance. I close with a discussion of what Cartesians should say about embodiment, and how that bears on issues of mental causation.
APOLOGIZING WITHOUT REGRET
Authors: Barnum‐Roberts Brooke Natalie 
Published: February 2011

AbstractA common belief about the nature of agent regret is that regretting some event E is closely linked to being sorry for the occurrence of E. Or more specifically, that if one is sorry for E then she must regret E. I will call this ‘the sorry‐regret hypothesis’. My contention is that one may be sorry for some action but not regret it. I take the rejection of this ‘truism’ to be a positive development. I offer two lines of argument for rejecting the sorry‐regret hypothesis. One line of argument is based on counterexamples. The second attacks the validity of a reconstructed argument for the sorry‐regret hypothesis. It is desirable to reject the sorry‐regret hypothesis since there is a component of regret that many will not wish to be saddled with as a condition of apologizing. To regret an act, one must wish that she had not performed that act. Since a person is the person she is (speaking loosely) because of the actions she has performed, for many actions, if one regrets an action, then she wishes that she were a different person. This is a worrisome consequence.
THE PROBLEM OF HEAVEN
Authors: Ribeiro Brian 
Published: February 2011

AbstractAn argument against the rationality of desiring to go to heaven might be put in the form of a trilemma: (1) any state of being that both lasts eternally and preserves me as the person I am would be hellish and therefore would not be a state of being that I could have any reason to desire; (2) any state of being that lasts eternally and yet fails to preserve my personhood by turning me into a non‐person would not be a state of being that I (qua person that I am) could have any reason to desire; and (3) any state of being that lasts eternally and yet fails to preserve my personhood by turning me into some other person would not be a state of being that I (qua person that I am) could have any reason to desire. This paper offers defenses of each of the three horns of this trilemma and concludes that there is no rationally compelling reason for any human being to desire to go to heaven.
VALUES, DESIRES, AND LOVE: REFLECTIONS ON WOLLHEIM'S MORAL PSYCHOLOGY
Authors: Wong Ching‐wa 
Published: February 2011

AbstractIn The Thread of Life, Richard Wollheim argues that a person's sense of value is grounded in the power of love to generate certain favourable perceptions of an object. Following from his view is a psychoanalytic conception of valuing as constituted by the imaginative force of phantasy, rather than rational deliberation. In this paper, I shall defend this conception with a view to explaining the relation between values and desires. I suggest that valuing qua phantasy‐making can ‘tune up’ a person's desires to fit his perception of the good. Such power of phantasy is to be contrasted with various types of motivational failure in moral imagination. Finally, I argue that ‘effective valuing’, which makes us capable of desiring what we perceive to be good, requires an affective kind of imagination which assures us that we have the ability to love and to be loved.
SELF‐OWNERSHIP AND THE STATE: A DEMOCRATIC CRITIQUE
Authors: Ypi Lea 
Published: February 2011

AbstractLibertarians often invoke the principle of self‐ownership to discredit distributive interventions authorized by the more‐than‐minimal state. But if one takes a democratic approach to the justification of ownership claims, including claims of ownership over oneself, the validity of the self‐ownership principle is theoretically inseparable from the normative justification of the state. Since the idea of the state is essential to the very assertion (not just the positive enforcement) of the principle of self‐ownership, invoking the principle to discredit a distribution of ownership authorized by the state commits libertarians also to weakening that principle's validity. Put differently, appealing to the self‐ownership principle to circumscribe the state's power to distribute property is problematic when the state is necessary to assert the validity of that principle. This is because anytime the self‐ownership principle is used to undermine a state‐based distribution of property it is also implicitly eroding the ground for asserting its own validity.1
VISUALISATION OF SOCIO‐SPATIAL ISOLATION BASED ON HUMAN ACTIVITY PATTERNS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN SPACE‐TIME
Authors: LEE JAE YONG , KWAN MEI‐PO 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTFew previous studies of socio‐spatial isolation have explored both its spatial and temporal dimensions. This study proposes and implemented four visual methods for analysing socio‐spatial isolation using graphic representation of people's social networks and activity patterns in space and time: 3D space‐time paths, time windows, 3D activity density surfaces, and ring‐based visualisation of social networks. These visualisations utilise both activity‐travel data and social network information. The data used were collected through a specially designed activity‐travel diary survey with a sample of Koreans in the Columbus metropolitan area in Ohio (USA). The results show that these visualisations can considerably enhance our understanding of the relationships between people's activities in space‐time and their social interactions. Combining social network analysis with activity pattern analysis can lead to a better understanding of socio‐spatial isolation.
Mixture Modelling as an Exploratory Framework for Genotype–Trait Associations
Authors: Au Kinman , Lin Rongheng , Foulkes Andrea S. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryWe propose a mixture modelling framework for both identifying and exploring the nature of genotype–trait associations. This framework extends the classical mixed effects modelling approach for this setting by incorporating a Gaussian mixture distribution for random genotype effects. The primary advantages of this paradigm over existing approaches include that the mixture modelling framework addresses the degrees-of-freedom challenge that is inherent in application of the usual fixed effects analysis of covariance, relaxes the restrictive single normal distribution assumption of the classical mixed effects models and offers an exploratory framework for discovery of underlying structure across multiple genetic loci. An application to data arising from a study of antiretroviral-associated dyslipidaemia in human immunodeficiency virus infection is presented. Extensive simulations studies are also implemented to investigate the performance of this approach.
Interaction Trees: Exploring the Differential Effects of an Intervention Programme for Breast Cancer Survivors
Authors: Su Xiaogang , Meneses Karen , McNees Patrick , Johnson Wesley O. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryThe breast cancer education intervention (BCEI) is a tailored psychoeducational intervention programme aiming to improve the quality of life of breast cancer survivors. Borrowing the idea of recursive partitioning and following the convention of classification and regression trees, an exploratory procedure, termed interaction trees, is proposed to understand better the differential effects of the BCEI on longitudinal quality-of-life data. The resultant tree model identifies several objectively defined subgroups: in some groups the BCEI is quite effective whereas in others it may not be. Based on the final tree structure, a permutation test is used to assess the overall treatment-by-covariate interaction. In addition, a variable importance ranking feature is facilitated via random forests of interaction trees to help to determine important effect modifiers of the BCEI.