bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tissue distribution of adenosine receptor mRNAs in the rat
Authors: Dixon Alistair K. , Gubitz Amelie K. , Sirinathsinghji Dalip J.S. , Richardson Peter J. , Freeman Tom C. 
Published: July 2012

A degree of ambiguity and uncertainty exists concerning the distribution of mRNAs encoding the four cloned adenosine receptors. In order to consolidate and extend current understanding in this area, the expression of the adenosine receptors has been examined in the rat by use of in situ hybridisation and the reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR).
In accordance with earlier studies, in situ hybridisation revealed that the adenosine A1 receptor was widely expressed in the brain, whereas A2A receptor mRNA was restricted to the striatum, nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. In addition, A1 receptor mRNA was detected in large striatal cholinergic interneurones, 26% of these neurones were also found to express the A2A receptor gene. Central levels of mRNAs encoding adenosine A2B and A3 receptors were, however, below the detection limits of in situ hybridisation.
The more sensitive technique of RT‐PCR was then employed to investigate the distribution of adenosine receptor mRNAs in the central nervous system (CNS) and a wide range of peripheral tissues. As a result, many novel sites of adenosine receptor gene expression were identified. A1 receptor expression has now been found in the heart, aorta, liver, kidney, eye and bladder. These observations are largely consistent with previous functional data. A2A receptor mRNA was detected in all brain regions tested, demonstrating that expression of this receptor is not restricted to the basal ganglia. In the periphery A2A receptor mRNA was also found to be more widely distributed than generally recognised. The ubiquitous distribution of the A2B receptor is shown for the first time, A2B mRNA was detected at various levels in all rat tissues studied. Expression of the gene encoding the adenosine A3 receptor was also found to be widespread in the rat, message detected throughout the CNS and in many peripheral tissues. This pattern of expression is similar to that observed in man and sheep, which had previously been perceived to possess distinct patterns of A3 receptor gene expression in comparison to the rat.
In summary, this work has comprehensively studied the expression of all the cloned adenosine receptors in the rat, and in so doing, resolves some of the uncertainty over where these receptors might act to control physiological processes mediated by adenosine.
KW‐4679‐induced inhibition of tachykininergic contraction in the guinea‐pig bronchi by prejunctional inhibition of peripheral sensory nerves
Authors: Ikemura Toshihide , Okamura Kyoko , Sasaki Yasuo , Ishii Hidee , Ohmori Kenji 
Published: July 2012

Sensory mechanisms play an important role in the vagal regulation of tracheobronchial smooth muscle tone. We examined the effect of KW‐4679, an anti‐allergic drug, on guinea‐pig tachykinin‐mediated contractile responses induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS) in guinea‐pig bronchial muscles.
EFS (8 Hz, 0.5 ms, 15 V, for 15 s) evoked biphasic contractile responses in the guinea‐pig isolated main bronchus in the presence of 5 μm indomethacin. The contractions consisted of a fast phase of an atropine‐sensitive transient contraction and a slow phase of a sustained contraction which was inhibited by a combination of the tachykinin NK1 receptor antagonist, (±)‐CP‐96,345 (1 μm) and the NK2 receptor antagonist, SR 48968 (0.1 μm).
KW‐4679 preferentially inhibited the slow phase in a concentration‐dependent manner by 43.2 ± 7.7% at 10 μm, whereas the drug had no effect on the fast phase at concentrations up to 10 μm. KW‐4679, at a concentration of 100 μm, inhibited not only the slow phase by 49.2 ± 11.4%, but also the fast phase by 36.8 ± 9.3%.
KW‐4679 (10 μm and 100 μm) did not affect the substance P‐induced or neurokinin A‐induced contraction. Against the acetylcholine‐induced contractile responses, 100 μm KW‐4679 had a marked effect producing a 10.2 fold shift to the right in the curve.
The inhibitory effect of KW‐4679 (10 μm) on the slow phase contraction was not influenced by treatment with naloxone (100 nM), propranolol (1 μm), thioperamide (1 μm), saclofen (50 μm), yohimbine (1 μm), methiothepin (1 μm) or methysergide (1 μm).
The inhibitory effect of KW‐4679 (10 μm) on the slow phase contraction was not influenced by treatment with intermediate or large conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ channel blockers (charybdotoxin (10 nM) or iberiotoxin (10 nM)), but suppressed by treatment with small conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ channel blockers, apamin (500 nM) or scyllatoxin (300 nM). Apamin or scyllatoxin per se did not influence the slow phase contractions.
The results suggest that KW‐4679 preferentially inhibits the release of tachykinins from the bronchial sensory nerves through activation of small conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ channels.
Impaired arterial reactivity following cytomegalovirus infection in the immunosuppressed rat
Authors: Eerdmans Pedro H.A. , Persoons Maike C.J. , Debets Sjaak J.M. , Boudier Harry A.J. Struijker , Smits Jos F.M. , Bruggeman Catrien A. , De Mey Jo G.R. 
Published: July 2012

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major pathogen in immunocompromised individuals and may participate in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in the general population. We evaluated whether CMV‐infection alters the function of arterial smooth muscle.
Blood pressure (BP) and arterial reactivity were recorded in immunosuppressed rats that had been infected with CMV (105 plaque forming units i.p.). Furthermore, the reactivity of isolated arteries was compared between CMV‐infected rats and rats injected with bacterial endotoxin (LPS).
Initially resting BP and heart rate (HR) were not modified in CMV‐infected rats, but baroreflex control of HR was impaired. By the eighth day post‐CMV, BP dropped precipitously and could no longer be raised by phenylephrine (PHE).
In mesenteric resistance arteries, isolated at this stage from CMV‐infected rats, contractile responses to nerve stimulation, noradrenaline, PHE and 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) were virtually absent while those to high potassium and vasopressin (AVP) were not modified. In aortae of CMV‐infected rats, responses to 5‐HT and AVP were impaired while those to PHE or potassium were hardly affected. Reduced contractile responses could not be restored by NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME).
Continuous treatment of CMV‐infected rats with prazosin (0.1 mg kg−1 day−1) prevented blood pressure lowering and resistance artery changes.
Observations in arteries of LPS‐treated rats (5–10 mg kg−1, i.p.) differed markedly from those in vessels of CMV‐infected animals. The contractile reactivity of their mesenteric resistance arteries was not altered while in their aortae, responses to PHE, 5‐HT and AVP were reduced. With the exception of the AVP responses, this was more pronounced in the presence of L‐arginine and reversed by L‐NAME.
These findings indicate that CMV‐infection results in a reduction of resistance artery reactivity and hypotonia. This seems not to involve cytokine‐mediated induction of NO synthase in the vascular wall but may be due to alterations of excitation‐contraction coupling in arterial smooth muscle in response to increased sympathetic nervous input.
Cyclic GMP‐independent effects of nitric oxide on guinea‐pig uterine contractility
Authors: Kuenzli Karri A. , Bradley Michael E. , Buxton Iain L.O. 
Published: July 2012

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation of uterine contractility has yet to be clearly defined. We evaluated the effect of NO (in the form of S‐nitroso‐L‐cysteine, CysNO) upon uterine contractility and guanosine 3′,5′‐cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP) accumulation in pregnant and nonpregnant guinea‐pig myometrium.
While CysNO had no effect upon spontaneous contractile activity in either pregnant or nonpregnant uterine tissues, addition of CysNO resulted in an immediate and reversible relaxation of oxytocin‐ or acetylcholine (ACh)‐evoked contractions.
Relaxation of agonist‐evoked contractions in response to CysNO was associated with significant elevations in intracellular cyclic GMP concentrations ([cyclic GMP]i).
Elevations in [cyclic GMP]i were not required for relaxation, as inhibition of guanylyl cyclase by methylene blue prevented [cyclic GMP]i accumulation while having no effect upon the ability of CysNO to relax agonist‐evoked contractions.
Addition of the cyclic GMP‐analogues, 8‐Br‐cyclic GMP and PET‐cyclic GMP, only at high concentrations, produced partial relaxation of agonist‐contracted tissues, suggesting the possibility that cyclic GMP may be sufficient but not necessary for myometrial relaxation.
Our studies not only provide evidence for a functional role for NO‐modulation of agonist‐evoked contractions in the pregnant and nonpregnant guinea‐pig uterus, but also that these occur by a mechanism which is not dependent upon guanylyl cyclase activity.
Effect of amlodipine on renin secretion and renin gene expression in rats
Authors: Schricker Karin , Hamann Marlies , Macher Andreas , Krämer Bernhard K. , Kaissling Brigitte , Kurtz Armin 
Published: July 2012

This study was done to characterize the influence of calcium channel blockade on renin secretion and renin gene expression in normal rats and rats with renovascular hypertension. To this end we studied the effects of the 1,4‐dihydropyridine derivative, amlodipine, on plasma renin activity and renal renin m‐RNA levels in normal rats and rats with unilateral renal hypoperfusion induced by applying 0.2 mm left renal artery clips over four days.
In normotensive rats, amlodipine significantly decreased basal blood pressure by about 20 mmHg when applied in a concentration of 5, 15 and 45 mg kg−1. Plasma renin activity and also renin mRNA levels were not changed after application of 5 mg kg−1 of amlodipine. However, at a concentration of 15 or 45 mg kg−1, amlodipine, significantly increased not only plasma renin activity by about 250% and 300%, but also renin mRNA levels by about 100% and 500%. The action of amlodipine on all these parameters was maximal after 24 h. Treatment with amlodipine in a concentration of 15 mg kg−1 also increased renin immunoreactive areas in the kidney cortex by retrograde recruitment of renin expressing cells in the afferent arterioles.
In 2kidney‐1 clip rats, systolic blood pressure rose continuously whilst plasma renin activity and renin m‐RNA in the clipped kidney increased transiently and renin m‐RNA in the contralateral kidney was constantly suppressed. Amlodipine at a concentration of 15 mg kg−1 markedly attenuated the increase of blood pressure in 2kidney‐1 clip rats, produced an almost additive effect on plasma renin activity and showed a tendency to increase renin m‐RNA levels in the clipped kidneys. Renin m‐RNA levels in the contralateral kidney were also significantly suppressed in the animals receiving additional treatment with amlodipine.
These findings suggest that inhibition of calcium channels by amlodipine stimulates renin secretion and renin gene expression in vivo. These stimulatory effects are almost additive to the changes of renin secretion occurring after an unilateral fall of renal perfusion pressure.
Role of nitric oxide in the circulatory failure and organ injury in a rodent model of Gram‐positive shock
Authors: Kengatharan Ken. M. , De Kimpe Sjef J. , Thiemermann Christoph 
Published: July 2012

The pathological features of Gram‐positive shock can be mimicked by the co‐administration of two cell wall components of Staphylococcus aureus, namely lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and peptidoglycan (PepG). This is associated with the expression of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in various organs. We have investigated the effects of dexamethasone (which prevents the expression of iNOS protein) or aminoguanidine (an inhibitor of iNOS activity) on haemodynamics, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) as well as iNOS activity elicited by LTA + PepG in anaesthetized rats.
Co‐administration of LTA (3 mg kg−1, i.v.) and PepG (10 mg kg−1, i.v.) resulted in a significant increase in the plasma levels of tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNFα, maximum at 90 min) as well as a biphasic fall in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) from 120 ± 3 mmHg (time 0) to 77 ± 5 mmHg (at 6 h, w = 8; P < 0.05). This hypotension was associated with a significant tachycardia (4–6 h, P < 0.05) and a reduction of the pressor response elicited by noradrenaline (NA, 1 μg kg−1, i.v., at 1–6 h; n = 8, P < 0.05). Furthermore, LTA + PepG caused time‐dependent increases in the serum levels of markers of hepatocellular injury, glutamate‐pyruvate‐transaminase (GPT) and glutamate‐oxalacetate‐transaminase (GOT). In addition, urea and creatinine (indicators of renal dysfunction) were increased. There was also a fall in arterial oxygen tension (PaO2), indicating respiratory dysfunction, and metabolic acidosis as shown by the significant drop in pH, PaCO2 and HCO3−. These effects caused by LTA + PepG were associated with the induction of iNOS activity in aorta, liver, kidney and lungs as well as increases in serum levels of nitrite + nitrate (total nitrite).
Pretreatment of rats with dexamethasone (3 mg kg−1, i.p.) at 120 min before LTA + PepG administration significantly attenuated these adverse effects as well as the increases in the plasma levels of TNFα caused by LTA + PepG. The protective effects of dexamethasone were associated with a prevention of the increase in iNOS activity (in aorta, liver, lung, kidney), the expression of iNOS protein (in lungs), as well as in the increase in the plasma levels of total nitrite.
Treatment of rats with aminoguanidine (5 mg kg−1 + 10 mg kg−1 h−1) starting at 120 min after LTA + PepG attenuated most of the adverse effects and gave a significant inhibition of iNOS activity (in various organs) as well as an inhibition of the increase in total plasma nitrite. However, aminoguanidine did not improve renal function although this agent caused a substantial inhibition of NOS activity in the kidney.
Thus, an enhanced formation of NO by iNOS importantly contributes to the circulatory failure, hepatocellular injury, respiratory dysfunction and the metabolic acidosis, but not the renal failure, caused by LTA + PepG in the anaesthetized rat.
Measurement of Health‐Related Quality of Life in the Care of Patients with ESRD: Isn’t This the Metric That Matters?
Authors: Naik Nimish , Hess Rachel , Unruh Mark 
Published: July 2012

AbstractAn outcome can take many forms in the health care of an individual. Common measures in clinical research may include mortality, time to ESRD, or change in glomerular filtration rate. While a patient surely may share an interest with a clinician regarding these endpoints, individual life priorities expectedly vary. Outcomes of great value to a clinician (or their performance quality measures) may not be shared by their patient. While continued education and efforts in effective communication may help each party understand the reasons behind these differences, the time required to foster such dialogues remains a major hurdle for most clinicians. Through the use of contemporary computers such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, healthcare providers can gain meaningful insight from patient‐reported data such as pain, sleep, and sexual function. This review will detail how carefully constructed questionnaires with equivalent reliability as long annual surveys, such as KDQOL, can be more quickly completed by using novel technology, which can be transmitted from the patient to the clinician and back to the bedside in minutes rather than in weeks.
Embodied Resource Flows in a Global Economy
Authors: Duchin Faye , Levine Stephen H. 
Published: July 2012

SummaryThis article presents a methodology for identifying critical links in global resource supply chains by tracking resources from their extraction in one region of the world economy through their embodiment in intermediate products in the same and other regions to eventual embodiment in final goods. We build on previous work that applied an absorbing Markov chain (AMC) to results obtained using an input‐output (IO) model of a single region to define a resource‐specific network within that economy. In the absence of model calculations, the AMC can also be applied to standard IO data for a past year. This article first generalizes the analytic framework from a single region to the important case of the global resource‐specific network. This network typically includes cycling of embodied resources between sectors not only within each economy, but also among regions, as subsequent rounds of intermediate products are traded. Next, we refine that analysis to exhibit a crucial subnetwork, the resource end‐use network, which only tracks the portion of the resource that ends up embodied in a specific final product in a given region. Finally, we develop techniques to distinguish key branches of these networks and provide detailed insights about the structure of global resource dependence. A numerical example is applied to results of scenario analysis using an IO model of the world economy. Two alternative scenarios are compared. In each scenario, embodied resources are carried over specific branches of a global network in three regions using three resources to produce four goods.
Disruptions in Task Groups
Authors: Sell Jane , Knottnerus J. David , Adcock‐Azbill Christina 
Published: July 2012

ObjectiveThis research addresses the effect of interruptions on task groups; interactions and individual group members’ feelings about the task and the group itself. The interruptions that we consider are not generated from within the group, but have their source outside the group. Emphasizing the theories of structural ritualization, relational cohesion, and productive exchange, we predict that interruptions that have positive, negative, or neutral effects on the group all cause problems with the resolution of routine.MethodsWe design and conduct a four‐condition experiment to test our predictions.ResultsThere was more stability in group procedures when there was no interruption than when there was any kind of interruption. There were no differences in efficiency or activities between positive and negative interruptions. However, there were more agreements in positive interruption groups than in negative interruption groups. Additionally, group members’ perceptions varied by the type of interruption: those in positively interrupted groups reported higher levels of competence and feelings of success.ConclusionsWe find that interruption, in and of itself, creates problems with resumption of group processes. Whether the interruption is positive or negative, however, does create interaction differences and differences in group members’ perceptions and affect related to the group and each other.
The Foreclosure Crisis and Crime: Is Housing‐Mortgage Stress Associated with Violent and Property Crime in U.S. Metropolitan Areas?
Authors: Jones Roderick W. , Pridemore William Alex 
Published: July 2012

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to determine if the housing‐mortgage stress caused by the foreclosure crisis is associated with violent and property crime in U.S. metropolitan areas.MethodUsing a sample of 142 metropolitan statistical areas and controlling for other structural factors thought to be associated with urban violence rates, we employ weighted least squares regression to estimate the association between the Housing‐Mortgage Stress Index (HMSI) and six serious crimes: homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.ResultsOur results showed no evidence of an association between the HMSI and any of the crime rates.ConclusionsDespite anecdotal evidence of and growing fear that the foreclosure crisis was accompanied by increasing crime rates in cities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, we found no evidence that metropolitan areas with higher levels of housing‐mortgage stress had higher rates of violent or property crime.
Commentary: Biopolitical injustice and contemporary capitalism
Authors: Benson Peter 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTHow is big industry linked to rising obesity in the United States? This issue is tangentially explored in the article that I consider. My commentary expands on this point to apprehend the role of corporations and industries in producing and profiting from population health problems. Taking the cases of obesity and cigarette smoking together, I examine how corporations claim social‐responsibility values as a strategic means of forestalling criticism and protecting their markets while shifting accountability for the risks and harms that are related to consumption onto consumers themselves. These dynamics reveal the centrality of biopolitical injustice to the workings of contemporary capitalism.
Accidents of equity and the aesthetics of Chinese offshore incorporation
Authors: Maurer Bill , Martin Sylvia J. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTThe British Virgin Islands is second only to Hong Kong as a source for foreign investment into China. Over the past two decades or so, Chinese entrepreneurs have demonstrated a preference for incorporating in the offshore finance centers of the Caribbean. Chinese offshore structures are different from earlier uses of the offshore in their unique and seemingly transparent aesthetic form. We show how equity—a legal argument and tradition that moderates the letter of the law—and these structures mutually engage one another through spatiotemporal reference and framing. We argue that this engagement is accidental, a coincidence of aesthetic form rather than an emergent phenomenon of any larger process or the product of a plan. It is also not a contingent articulation of compatible elements from the corporate and legal domains. In exploring the aesthetics of Chinese offshore incorporation and court cases that invoke equity, we argue that the accidental discovery of equity can reorient certain analytical conceits about capital and how we can know it.
Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Repeated IVF Failure and Unexplained Infertility
Authors: Virro Michael R. , Winger Edward E. , Reed Jane L. 
Published: July 2012

ProblemWe set out to determine whether intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) improves in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates in women with a difficult history of multiple (≥2) prior IVF failures and /or ‘unexplained’ infertility.Method of studyA total of 229 women with multiple IVF failures (3.3 ± 2.1) and/or unexplained infertility (3.8 ± 2.7 years) were given IVIG on the day of egg retrieval, and the subsequent IVF success rates were compared with published success rates from the Canadian database (CARTR).ResultsThe pregnancy rate per IVIG‐treated cycle was 60.3% (138/229), and the live birth rate per IVIG‐treated cycle was 40.2% (92/229). This is a significantly higher success rate compared to the Canadian average (30% live birth rate; CARTR statistics from 2010; P = 0.0012). In cases where a single embryo was transferred, pregnancy rate using IVIG was almost twofold the CARTR pregnancy rate [(61%(20/33) to 34.9% (428/1225)]. In cases where two high quality (≥Grade 3) day 5 blastocysts were transferred, nearly a 100% pregnancy rate was achieved using IVIG (30/31).ConclusionIVIG may be a useful treatment option for patients with previous IVF failure and/ or unexplained infertility. The data confirm previously published studies at other centers.