bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pharmacotherapy for treatment of attention deficits after non-progressive acquired brain injury. A systematic review
Authors: Sivan Manoj , Neumann Vera , Kent Ruth , Stroud Amanda , Bhakta Bipinchandra B 
Published: January 2010

Objective: To systematically review the effectiveness of medications used to improve attention in people with non-progressive acquired brain injury. Design: A systematic review. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINALH, PUBMED and PsychINFO databases were used to identify studies published between 1987 and 2008 meeting the following criteria: studies with subjects older than 18 years; diagnosis of new onset or previous acquired brain injury; medication given to improve attention and use of outcome to measure attention. Studies involving subjects in low arousal states or with neurogenerative conditions were excluded. The studies were categorized into three evidence levels: I — Randomized controlled trials; II — Prospective studies, controlled trials with methodological limitations; and III — Retrospective studies, clinical case series. Results: Forty-seven articles were identified on initial search. Twenty-six met the pre-specified criteria. Five articles were assessed as meeting the level I evidence criteria, 12 were level II studies and 9 were level III studies. Methylphenidate can improve information processing speed but not all attention aspects in some people after traumatic brain injury. There is weak evidence for use of dopamine agonists to improve neglect/inattention after stroke. There is little evidence on the frequency of adverse effects and long-term functional benefits. Conclusion: Although there is lack of robust evidence to recommend the routine use of medication to improve attention after traumatic brain injury and stroke, the existing evidence indicates potential for benefit in some patents and therefore further research is warranted.
A qualitative study exploring the experiences of African-Caribbean informal stroke carers in the UK
Authors: Strudwick Anna , Morris Reg 
Published: January 2010

Objective: To explore the experiences of African-Caribbean informal stroke carers in the UK. Design: Qualitative methodology. Setting: Three urban locations in southern England. Participants: Nine African-Caribbean informal stroke carers providing support to a relative with stroke for at least six months. Method: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore both predetermined and unexpected topics relating to any aspects of the carers’ experiences. Interview transcriptions were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Several themes resembled those identified in previous qualitative studies with informal stroke carers from other ethnic backgrounds. However, new themes emerged which were related to the carers’ ethnicity and cultural values. These themes were ‘understanding of individual needs’, ‘battle’, ‘independence from services’, ‘faith in God’, ‘family ties’ and ‘avoiding institutionalised care.’ Conclusions: This small-scale study provides an insight into African-Caribbean stroke carers’ own perspectives. These have much in common with those of other ethnicities, but also exhibit important areas of difference. Several themes indicate issues with existing service provision. Stereotypical assumptions about informal stroke carers based on ethnicity appear to be unwarranted; there is diversity within ethnic groups. Individual contexts of ethnicity, culture and religious beliefs shape expectations and perceptions. Several themes signpost service attributes that are perceived as relevant to acceptability by African-Caribbean stroke carers. Recruitment challenges could be addressed in future projects with ethnic minority carers by collaborative planning and the development of individual relationships with key informants.
Psychological distress after stroke and aphasia: the first six months
Authors: Hilari Katerina , Northcott Sarah , Roy Penny , Marshall Jane , Wiggins Richard D , Chataway Jeremy , Ames Diane 
Published: January 2010

Objective: We explored the factors that predicted psychological distress in the first six months post stroke in a sample including people with aphasia. Design: Prospective longitudinal observational study. Setting and subjects: Participants with a first stroke from two acute stroke units were assessed while still in hospital (baseline) and at three and six months post stroke. Main measures: Distress was assessed with the General Health Questionnaire-12. Other measures included: NIH Stroke Scale, Barthel Index, Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test, Frenchay Activities Index, MOS Social Support Scale and social network indicators. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of distress at each stage post stroke; and to determine what baseline factors predicted distress at six months. Results: Eighty-seven participants were able to self-report on measures used, of whom 32 (37%) had aphasia. 71 (82%) were seen at six months, including 11 (16%) with aphasia. Predictors of distress were: stroke severity at baseline; low social support at three months; and loneliness and low satisfaction with social network at six months. The baseline factors that predicted distress at six months were psychological distress, loneliness and low satisfaction with social network (Nagelkerke R2 = 0.49). Aphasia was not a predictor of distress at any time point. Yet, at three months post stroke 93% of those with aphasia experienced high distress, as opposed to 50% of those without aphasia (χ2 (1) = 8.61, P<0.01). Conclusions: Factors contributing to distress after stroke vary across time. Loneliness and low satisfaction with one’s social network are particularly important and contribute to long-term psychological distress.
The value of physical tests for subacromial impingement syndrome: a study of diagnostic accuracy
Authors: Kelly Susan M , Brittle Nicola , Allen Gina M 
Published: January 2010

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of commonly used physical tests for subacromial impingement syndrome, using ultrasound as the reference standard. Design: A cross-sectional study of 59 participants with chronic shoulder pain of more than four months duration with a referral for diagnostic ultrasound scanning were invited to participate in the study. Main measures: Thirty-four participants met the inclusion criteria and had an ultrasound scan followed immediately by application of the following tests: Neer’s sign, Hawkins and Kennedy test, painful arc of abduction, empty and full can tests, resisted isometric shoulder abduction and resisted isometric shoulder external rotation. Using the two-way contingency table method sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and overall accuracy were calculated for each physical test. Results: Diagnostic values for each test varied considerably. The Hawkins and Kennedy test was the most accurate test for diagnosing any degree of subacromial impingement syndrome (71.0%). The most accurate tests for diagnosing subcategories of impingement were pain on resisted external rotation and weakness during the full can test (63.6%) for presence of subdeltoid fluid, pain on resisted external rotation (58.8%) for partial thickness tears and the painful arc test (62.1%) for full thickness tears. Conclusions: As the predictive values of these tests are shown to be variable in this study it indicates that the clinical tests identified have limited use in informing diagnosis. Emphasis on the management of dysfunction may be more appropriate rather than reliance on clinical tests with inconclusive sensitivity and specificity if ultrasound scanning is not available.
Prehabilitation and early rehabilitation after spinal surgery: randomized clinical trial
Authors: Nielsen Per Rotbøll , Jørgensen Lars Damkjær , Dahl Benny , Pedersen Tom , Tønnesen Hanne 
Published: January 2010

Objective: To evaluate the outcome after spinal surgery when adding prehabilitation to the early rehabilitation. Design: A randomized clinical study. Setting: Orthopaedic surgery department. Subject: Sixty patients scheduled for surgery followed by inpatient rehabilitation for degenerative lumbar disease. Interventions: The patients were computer randomized to prehabilitation and early rehabilitation (28 patients) or to standard care exclusively (32 patients). The intervention began two months prior to the operation. The prehabilitation included an intensive exercise programme and optimization of the analgesic treatment. Protein drinks were given the day before surgery. The early postoperative rehabilitation included balanced pain therapy with self-administered epidural analgesia, doubled intensified mobilization and protein supplements. Main measures: The outcome measurements were postoperative stay, complications, functionality, pain and satisfaction. Results: At operation the intervention group had improved function, assessed by Roland Morris Questionnaire (P = 0.001). After surgery the intervention group reached the recovery milestones faster than the control group (1—6 days versus 3—13, P =0.001), and left hospital earlier (5 (3—9) versus 7 (5—15) days, P =0.007). There was no difference in postoperative complications, adverse events, low back pain and radiating pain, timed up and go, sit-to-stand or in life quality. Patient satisfaction was significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusion: The integrated programme of prehabilitation and early rehabilitation improved the outcome and shortened the hospital stay — without more complications, pain or dissatisfaction.
Effects ofPasteurella multocidaToxin on Porcine Bone Marrow Cell Differentiation into Osteoclasts and Osteoblasts
Authors: Gwaltney S. M. , Galvin R. J. S. , Register K. B. , Rimler R. B. , Ackermann M. R. 
Published: January 2010

The effect of Pasteurella multocida toxin (PMT) on porcine osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation was studied using in vitro cell culture systems. When grown in the presence of Vitamin D3, isolated porcine bone marrow cells formed multinucleated cells with features characteristic of osteoclasts. Exposure of bone marrow cells to Vitamin D3and PMT during growth resulted in formation of increased numbers and earlier appearance of osteoclasts compared to controls. Ultrafiltered medium from PMT-treated cells likewise increased osteoclast numbers, suggesting that a soluble mediator may be involved in the action of PMT. When cell cultures were treated with fluorescein-labeled PMT, fluorescence was found within the cytoplasm of small, round cells that did not resemble either osteoclasts or osteoclastic precursor cells.Cultures of porcine bone marrow cells exposed to dexamethasone, ascorbic acid, and β-glycerophosphate developed into osteoblastic cells that formed multilayered, mineralized nodules. Exposure of osteoblastic cultures to low concentrations of PMT resulted in retarded cell growth, formation of decreased numbers of nodules, and minimal to no mineralization in the nodules; higher concentrations of PMT resulted in increased cellular debris and poor growth of cells, with no nodule formation. These findings suggest that PMT may induce turbinate atrophy in pigs by increasing osteoclast numbers and inhibiting osteoblastic bone formation. The effect of PMT on osteoclastic differentiation and growth may not be due to a direct effect on preosteoclastic cells, but rather due to alterations in the soluble mediator secretion by marrow stromal cells.
Therapy of B-cell malignancies by anti–HLA-DR humanized monoclonal antibody, IMMU-114, is mediated through hyperactivation of ERK and JNK MAP kinase signaling pathways
Authors: Stein Rhona , Gupta Pankaj , Chen Xiaochuan , Cardillo Thomas M. , Furman Richard R. , Chen Susan , Chang Chien-Hsing , Goldenberg David M. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractA humanized IgG4 anti–HLA-DR monoclonal antibody (IMMU-114), engineered to avoid side effects associated with complement activation, was examined for binding and cytotoxicity on leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma cell lines and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patient specimens, followed by evaluation of the effects of IMMU-114 on extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathways. HLA-DR was expressed on the majority of these cells at markedly higher levels than CD20, CD22, and CD74. IMMU-114 was toxic to mantle cell lymphoma, CLL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (including rituximab-resistant), and multiple myeloma cell lines, and also patient CLL cells. IMMU-114 induced disease-free survival in tumor-bearing SCID mice with early-stage disease and in models that are relatively resistant to anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. Despite positive staining, acute myelogenous leukemic cells were not killed by IMMU-114. The ability of IMMU-114 to induce activation of ERK and JNK signaling correlated with cytotoxicity and differentiates the mechanism of action of IMMU-114 from monoclonal antibodies against CD20 and CD74. Thus, antigen expression is not sufficient for cytotoxicity; antibody-induced hyperactivation of ERK and JNK mitogen activated protein kinase signaling pathways are also required.
Growth inhibition of androgen-responsive prostate cancer cells with brefeldin A targeting cell cycle and androgen receptor
Authors: Rajamahanty Srinivas , Alonzo Catherine , Aynehchi Shahrad , Choudhury Muhammad , Konno Sensuke 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Background
Androgen ablation is one of the viable therapeutic options for patients with primary hormone (androgen)-dependent prostate cancer. However, an antibiotic brefeldin A (BFA) has been shown to exhibit the growth inhibitory effect on human cancer cells. We thus investigated if BFA might inhibit proliferation of androgen-responsive prostate cancer LNCaP cells and also explored how it would be carried out, focusing on cell cycle and androgen receptor (AR).

Methods
Androgen-mediated cellular events in LNCaP cells were induced using 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) as an androgenic mediator. Effects of BFA on non-DHT-stimulated or DHT-stimulated cell growth were assessed. Its growth inhibitory mechanism(s) was further explored; performing cell cycle analysis on a flow cytometer, assessing AR activity by AR binding assay, and analyzing AR protein expression using Western blot analysis.

Results
DHT (1 nM) was capable of stimulating LNCaP cell growth by ~40% greater than non-stimulated controls, whereas BFA (30 ng/ml) completely inhibited such DHT-stimulated proliferation. Cell cycle analysis showed that this BFA-induced growth inhibition was associated with a ~75% reduction in the cell number in the S phase and a concomitant increase in the G1 cell number, indicating a G1 cell cycle arrest. This was further confirmed by the modulations of specific cell cycle regulators (CDK2, CDK4, cyclin D1, and p21WAF1), revealed by Western blots. In addition, the growth inhibition induced by BFA was accompanied by a profound (~90%) loss in AR activity, which would be presumably attributed to the significantly reduced cellular AR protein level.

Conclusions
This study demonstrates that BFA has a potent growth inhibitory activity, capable of completely inhibiting DHT (androgen)-stimulated LNCaP proliferation. Such inhibitory action of BFA appears to target cell cycle and AR: BFA led to a G1 cell cycle arrest and the down-regulation of AR activity/expression, possibly accounting for its primary growth inhibitory mechanism. Thus, it is conceivable that BFA may provide a more effective therapeutic modality for patients with hormone-dependent prostate cancer.
Global screening of potential Candida albicans biofilm-related transcription factors via network comparison
Authors: Wang Yu-Chao , Lan Chung-Yu , Hsieh Wen-Ping , Murillo Luis A , Agabian Nina , Chen Bor-Sen 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Background

Candida albicans is a commonly encountered fungal pathogen in humans. The formation of biofilm is a major virulence factor in C. albicans pathogenesis and is related to antidrug resistance of this organism. Although many factors affecting biofilm have been analyzed, molecular mechanisms that regulate biofilm formation still await to be elucidated.

Results
In this study, from the gene regulatory network perspective, we developed an efficient computational framework, which integrates different kinds of data from genome-scale analysis, for global screening of potential transcription factors (TFs) controlling C. albicans biofilm formation. S. cerevisiae information and ortholog data were used to infer the possible TF-gene regulatory associations in C. albicans. Based on TF-gene regulatory associations and gene expression profiles, a stochastic dynamic model was employed to reconstruct the gene regulatory networks of C. albicans biofilm and planktonic cells. The two networks were then compared and a score of relevance value (RV) was proposed to determine and assign the quantity of correlation of each potential TF with biofilm formation. A total of twenty-three TFs are identified to be related to the biofilm formation; ten of them are previously reported by literature evidences.

Conclusions
The results indicate that the proposed screening method can successfully identify most known biofilm-related TFs and also identify many others that have not been previously reported. Together, this method can be employed as a pre-experiment screening approach that reveals new target genes for further characterization to understand the regulatory mechanisms in biofilm formation, which can serve as the starting point for therapeutic intervention of C. albicans infections.
Sex and the single embryo: early deveopment in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata
Authors: Gabrieli Paolo , Falaguerra Andrea , Siciliano Paolo , Gomulski Ludvik M , Scolari Francesca , Zacharopoulou Antigone , Franz Gerald , Malacrida Anna R , Gasperi Giuliano 
Published: January 2010

AbstractBackgroundIn embryos the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MTZ) integrates post-transcriptional regulation of maternal transcripts with transcriptional activation of the zygotic genome. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying this event are being clarified inDrosophila melanogaster, little is know about the embryogenic processes in other insect species. The recent publication of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from embryos of the global pest speciesCeratitis capitata(medfly) has enabled the investigation of embryogenesis in this species and has allowed a comparison of the embryogenic processes in these two related dipteran species,C. capitataandD. melanogaster, that shared a common ancestor 80-100 mya.ResultsUsing a novel PCR-based sexing method, which takes advantage of a putative LTR retrotransposon MITE insertion on the medfly Y chromosome, the transcriptomes of individual early male and female embryos were analysed using RT-PCR. This study is focused on two crucial aspects of the onset of embryonic development: sex determination and cellular blastoderm formation. Together with the three known medfly genes (Cctransformer,Cctransformer2andCcdoublesex), the expression patterns of other medfly genes that are similar to theD. melanogastersex-determination genes (sisterlessA, groucho, deadpan, Sex-lethal, female lethal d, sans filleandintersex) and four cellular blastoderm formation genes (Rho1, spaghetti squash, slow-as-molassesandserendipity-α) were analyzed, allowing us to sketch a preliminary outline of the embryonic process in the medfly. Furthermore, a putative homologue of theZeldagene has been considered, which inD. melanogasterencodes a DNA-binding factor responsible for the maternal-to-zygotic transition.ConclusionsOur novel sexing method facilitates the study of i) when the MTZ transition occurs in males and females ofC. capitata, ii) when and how the maternal information of "female-development" is reprogrammed in the embryos and iii) similarities and differences in the regulation of gene expression inC. capitataandD. melanogaster. We suggest a new model for the onset of the sex determination cascade in the medfly: the maternally inheritedCctratranscripts in the female embryos are insufficient to produce enough active protein to inhibit the male mode ofCctrasplicing. The slow rate of development and the inefficiency of the splicing mechanism in the pre-cellular blastoderm facilitates the male-determining factor (M) activity, which probably acts by inhibiting CcTRA protein activity.
PCA-based bootstrap confidence interval tests for gene-disease association involving multiple SNPs
Authors: Peng Qianqian , Zhao Jinghua , Xue Fuzhong 
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Background
Genetic association study is currently the primary vehicle for identification and characterization of disease-predisposing variant(s) which usually involves multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) available. However, SNP-wise association tests raise concerns over multiple testing. Haplotype-based methods have the advantage of being able to account for correlations between neighbouring SNPs, yet assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and potentially large number degrees of freedom can harm its statistical power and robustness. Approaches based on principal component analysis (PCA) are preferable in this regard but their performance varies with methods of extracting principal components (PC s).

Results

PCA-based bootstrap confidence interval test (PCA-BCIT), which directly uses the PC scores to assess gene-disease association, was developed and evaluated for three ways of extracting PC s, i.e., cases only(CAES), controls only(COES) and cases and controls combined(CES). Extraction of PC s with COES is preferred to that with CAES and CES. Performance of the test was examined via simulations as well as analyses on data of rheumatoid arthritis and heroin addiction, which maintains nominal level under null hypothesis and showed comparable performance with permutation test.

Conclusions

PCA-BCIT is a valid and powerful method for assessing gene-disease association involving multiple SNPs.