bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The plant cannabinoid Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabivarin can decrease signs of inflammation and inflammatory pain in mice
Authors: Bolognini Daniele , Costa Barbara , Maione Sabatino , Comelli Francesca , Marini Pietro , Di Marzo Vincenzo , Parolaro Daniela , Ross Ruth A , Gauson Lisa A , Cascio Maria G , Pertwee Roger G 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose: The phytocannabinoid, Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), can block cannabinoid CB1receptors. This investigation explored its ability to activate CB2receptors, there being evidence that combined CB2activation/CB1blockade would ameliorate certain disorders.Experimental approach: We tested the ability of THCV to activate CB2receptors by determining whether: (i) it inhibited forskolin‐stimulated cyclic AMP production by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with human CB2(hCB2) receptors; (ii) it stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding to hCB2CHO cell and mouse spleen membranes; (iii) it attenuated signs of inflammation/hyperalgesia induced in mouse hind paws by intraplantar injection of carrageenan or formalin; and (iv) any such anti‐inflammatory or anti‐hyperalgesic effects were blocked by a CB1or CB2receptor antagonist.Key results: THCV inhibited cyclic AMP production by hCB2CHO cells (EC50= 38 nM), but not by hCB1or untransfected CHO cells or by hCB2CHO cells pre‐incubated with pertussis toxin (100 ng·mL−1) and stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding to hCB2CHO and mouse spleen membranes. THCV (0.3 or 1 mg·kg−1i.p.) decreased carrageenan‐induced oedema in a manner that seemed to be CB2receptor‐mediated and suppressed carrageenan‐induced hyperalgesia. THCV (i.p.) also decreased pain behaviour in phase 2 of the formalin test at 1 mg·kg−1, and in both phases of this test at 5 mg·kg−1; these effects of THCV appeared to be CB1and CB2receptor mediated.Conclusions and implications: THCV can activate CB2receptorsin vitroand decrease signs of inflammation and inflammatory pain in mice partlyviaCB1and/or CB2receptor activation.This article is part of a themed issue on Cannabinoids. To view the editorial for this themed issue visithttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476‐5381.2010.00831.x
Differential effects of p38MAP kinase inhibitors on the expression of inflammation‐associated genes in primary, interleukin‐1β‐stimulated human chondrocytes
Authors: Joos H , Albrecht W , Laufer S , Brenner RE 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose:  A main challenge in the therapy of osteoarthritis (OA) is the development of drugs that will modify the disease. Reliable test systems are necessary to enable an efficient screening of therapeutic substances. We therefore established a chondrocyte‐based in vitro cell culture model in order to characterize different p38MAPK inhibitors.Experimental approach:  Interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β)‐stimulated human OA chondrocytes were treated with the p38MAPK inhibitors Birb 796, pamapimod, SB203580 and the new substance CBS‐3868. Birb 796‐ and SB203580‐treated cells were analysed in a genome‐wide microarray analysis. The efficacy of all inhibitors was characterized by quantitative gene expression analysis and the quantification of PGE2 and NO release.Key results:  Microarray analysis revealed inhibitor‐specific differences in gene expression. Whereas SB203580 had a broad effect on chondrocytes, Birb 796 counteracted the IL‐1β effect more specifically. All p38MAPK inhibitors significantly inhibited the IL‐1β‐induced gene expression of COX‐2, mPGES1, iNOS, matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP13) and TNFRSF11B, as well as PGE2 release. Birb 796 and CBS‐3868 showed a higher efficacy than SB203580 and pamapimod at inhibiting the expression of COX‐2 and MMP13 genes, as well as PGE2 release. In the case of mPGES1 and TNFRSF11B gene expression, CBS‐3868 exceeded the efficacy of Birb 796.Conclusions and implications:  Our test system could differentially characterize inhibitors of the same primary pharmaceutical target. It reflects processes relevant in OA and is based on chondrocytes that are mainly responsible for cartilage degradation. It therefore represents a valuable tool for drug screening in between functional in vitro testing and in vivo models.
Metformin blocks migration and invasion of tumour cells by inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase‐9 activation through a calcium and protein kinase Cα‐dependent pathway: phorbol‐12‐myristate‐13‐acetate‐induced/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase/activator protein‐1
Authors: Hwang Yong P , Jeong Hye G 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose: Population studies have revealed that treatment with the anti‐diabetic drug metformin is significantly associated with reduced cancer risk, but the underlying mode of action has not been elucidated. The aim of our study was to determine the effect of metformin on tumour invasion and migration, and the possible mechanisms, using human fibrosarcoma HT‐1080 cells.Experimental approach: We employed invasion, migration and gelatin zymography assays to characterize the effect of metformin on HT‐1080 cells. Transient transfection assays were performed to gene promoter activities, and immunoblot analysis to study its molecular mechanisms of action.Key results: Metformin inhibited migration and invasion by HT‐1080 cells at sub‐toxic concentrations. In these cells, metformin also suppressed phorbol‐12‐myristate‐13‐acetate (PMA)‐enhanced levels of matrix metalloproteinases‐9 (MMP‐9) protein, mRNA and transcription activity through suppression of activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) activation. In addition, metformin strongly repressed the PMA‐induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK), c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) and protein kinase C(PKC)α, whereas the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase was not affected by metformin. Metformin decreased the PMA‐induced Ca2+influx. Furthermore, treatment with an intracellular Ca2+chelator (BAPTA‐AM) or a selective calmodulin antagonist (W7) markedly decreased PMA‐induced MMP‐9 secretion and cell migration, as well as activation of ERK and JNK/AP‐1.Conclusions and implications: Metformin inhibited PMA‐induced invasion and migration of human fibrosarcoma cells via Ca2+‐dependent PKCα/ERK and JNK/AP‐1‐signalling pathways. Metformin therefore has the potential to be a potent anti‐cancer drug in therapeutic strategies for fibrosarcoma metastasis.
The tectono‐metamorphic evolution of the Balcooma Metamorphic Group, north‐eastern Australia: a multidisciplinary approach
Authors: ALI A. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractThe sequential growth of biotite, garnet, staurolite, kyanite, andalusite, cordierite and fibrolitic sillimanite, their microstructural relationships, foliation intersection axes preserved in porphyroblasts (FIAs), geochronology, P–T pseudosection (MnNCKFMASH system) modelling and geothermobarometry provide evidence for a P–T–t–D path that changes from clockwise to anticlockwise with time for the Balcooma Metamorphic Group. Growth of garnet at ∼530 °C and 4.6 kbar during the N–S‐shortening event that formed FIA 1 was followed by staurolite, plagioclase and kyanite growth. The inclusions of garnet in staurolite porphyroblasts that formed during the development of FIAs 2 and 3 plus kyanite growth during FIA 3 reflect continuous crustal thickening from c. 443 to 425 Ma during an Early Silurian Benambran Orogenic event. The temperature and pressure increased during this time from ∼530 °C and 4.6 kbar to ∼630 °C and 6.2 kbar. The overprinting of garnet‐, staurolite‐ and kyanite‐bearing mineral assemblages by low‐pressure andalusite and cordierite assemblages implies ∼4‐kbar decompression during Early Devonian exhumation of the Greenvale Province.
Modelling grain‐recycling zoning during metamorphism
Authors: PEARCE M. A. , WHEELER J. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractChemical zoning, recorded by grain growth during metamorphism, is a key source of information about P–T–t paths. Interpretation of these data must be carried out using appropriate models and recognizing their inherent assumptions. To assist with defining how zoned minerals form, a set of geometric criteria for three types of chemical zoning developed in minerals (diffusion, growth and grain recycling) is outlined. Re‐equilibration of minerals by lattice diffusion causes zoning if the re‐equilibration is incomplete. Growth of porphyroblasts is commonly considered in pelites, but in metagranitoids, large monophase domains undergo coarsening by recycling of material from one grain to another as grain boundaries migrate driven by surface energy. This type of grain size increase is termed here ‘grain recycling’. Zoning developed during grain recycling due to equilibration of the recycled material with grain‐boundary chemistry is termed ‘grain‐recycling zoning’. Furthermore, short lattice diffusion lengths relative to grain sizes cause metamorphic fractionation because material in the grain cores is not in communication thermodynamically with the rest of the rock. A new model is derived for this sort of grain size increase coupled with metamorphic reactions using Theriak–Domino. An example is given of plagioclase undergoing an increase in anorthite content as epidote breaks down during amphibolite facies metamorphism of a metagranitoid. Agreement between naturally occurring zoning profiles and those derived from modelled P–T–t paths shows that this model can be used to extract metamorphic conditions from rocks which are not accessible using conventional thermobarometry.
Relationship Between Fear of Falling and Outcomes of an Inpatient Geriatric Rehabilitation Population—Fear of the Fear of Falling
Authors: Denkinger Michael D. , Igl Wilmar , Lukas Albert , Bader Anne , Bailer Stefanie , Franke Sebastian , Denkinger Claudia M. , Nikolaus Thorsten , Jamour Michael 
Published: March 2010

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of various risk factors on three functional outcomes during rehabilitation.SETTING: Geriatric inpatient rehabilitation unit.DESIGN: Observational longitudinal study.PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixty‐one geriatric rehabilitation inpatients (men, women), mean age 82, who were capable of walking at baseline.MEASUREMENTS: Functional status was assessed weekly between admission and discharge and at a follow‐up 4 months later at home using the function component of the Short Form—Late Life Function and Disability Instrument, the Barthel Index, and Habitual Gait Speed. Various risk factors, such as falls‐related self‐efficacy (Falls Efficacy Scale–International), were measured. Associations between predictors and functional status at discharge and follow‐up were analyzed using linear regression models and bivariate plots.RESULTS: Fear of falling predicted functioning across all outcomes except for habitual gait speed at discharge and follow‐up. Visual comparison of functional trajectories between subgroups confirmed these findings, with different levels of fear of falling across time in linear plots. Thus, superior ability of this measure to discriminate between functional status at baseline across all outcomes and to discriminate between functional change especially with regard to the performance‐based outcome was demonstrated.CONCLUSION: Falls‐related self‐efficacy is the only parameter that significantly predicts rehabilitation outcome at discharge and follow‐up across all outcomes. Therefore, it should be routinely assessed in future studies in (geriatric) rehabilitation and considered to be an important treatment goal.
Prevention of Hip Fractures in Long‐Term Care: Relevance of Community‐Derived Data
Authors: Crilly Richard G. , Hillier Loretta M. , Mason Michelle , Gutmanis Iris , Cox Lizebeth 
Published: March 2010

Osteoporosis and falling are two major contributing factors to fractures in older persons; the relevant contribution of these may vary according to age, setting, and frailty. The purpose of this review was to examine the existing evidence on osteoporosis treatments to determine whether participants in clinical trials include or resemble the older and frailer adult population living in long‐term care (LTC).The trials (N=50) used to support major Canadian guidelines for osteoporosis treatment were reviewed because these are used to recommend treatment for all older adults, and several more‐recent studies were added. Trials conducted specifically with participants living in LTC were also reviewed (N=6).The majority of studies (96.0%) on osteoporosis treatments were conducted with community‐dwelling participants, with many excluding participants resembling the LTC population. Mean ages ranged from 52 to 84, although for the majority of studies, the mean age was younger than 70. Similarly, 80.0% of studies conducted in LTC included only residents who were ambulatory, mobile, able to transfer independently, or not permanently bedridden. Mean ages in these studies ranged from 83 to 85.These findings suggest that frail older adults, particularly the oldest and frailest adults in LTC, are neglected in clinical trials of osteoporosis fracture prevention. There is little evidence to support the application of community‐based guidelines to the LTC population, and studies directly involving this population are needed. The role of age, frailty, and the mechanics of falls in hip fracture are discussed.
Is There a Natural Rate of Crime?
Authors: Narayan Paresh Kumar , Nielsen Ingrid , Smyth Russell 
Published: March 2010

AbstractStudies in the economics of crime literature have reached mixed conclusions on the deterrence hypothesis. One explanation that has been offered for the failure to find evidence of a deterrent effect in the long run is the natural rate of crime. This article applies univariate unit root tests to crime series for the United Kingdom and United States and panel unit roots to crime rates for a panel of G7 countries to examine whether there is a natural rate of crime. Our main finding is that when we allow for two structural breaks in the univariate unit root test and a structural break in the panel data unit root test, there is strong evidence of a natural rate of crime. The policy implications of our findings is that governments should focus on altering the economic and social structural profile that determines crime in the long run rather than increasing expenditure on law enforcement that will at best reduce crime rates in the short run.
Language Nuances and Socioeconomic Outcomes
Authors: Chong Alberto , Guillen Jorge , Rios Vanessa 
Published: March 2010

AbstractWhile language enables communication, it also provides a reassuring quality more closely related with issues linked with trust, social capital, and cultural identification. Research on the role of language as a learning process is widespread but there is little evidence on its role as a signal for cultural affinity. We pursue this latter avenue of research and show that subtle language affinity is positively linked with change in socioeconomic outcome variables when using English‐speaking data for cities in the Golden Horseshoe area in Southern Ontario during the period 1991 to 2001.
School Kids and Oil Rigs: Two More Pieces of the Post‐Katrina Puzzle in New Orleans
Authors: Frailing Kelly , Wood Harper, Jr. Dee 
Published: March 2010

AbstractShortly after Hurricane Katrina's landfall in August 2005 and the reports of rampant looting of businesses in the city, we became curious about the extent of Katrina looting as compared to that after other major storms that hit New Orleans in 1947 and in 1965. Using burglary as a proxy variable for looting, we discovered that the burglary rates in the month before and the month after Katrina were significantly higher than those before and after the other two hurricanes. We then investigated the socioeconomic conditions in the city in an effort to explain these numbers. Population loss and high unemployment rates, coupled with a decline in high‐paying manufacturing jobs and an increase in low‐wage food and hotel service jobs generated severe economic inequality in the city that exacerbated the situation created by Katrina. Our current analysis of the impact of public school desegregation and the oil bust suggests that both events contributed to population loss and the increase in low‐wage jobs prior to the storm. We believe that this type of research can assist in the recovery of New Orleans by providing an understanding of the city's pre‐Katrina social and economic conditions and make clearer which post‐Katrina changes are desirable.
Intrinsic Motivation and the Logic of Collective Action: The Impact of Selective Incentives
Authors: Kyriacou Andreas P. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractI integrate the notion of intrinsic motivation, applied to economics most notably byFrey (1997), into the logic of individual contributions toward collective goods as analyzed sinceOlson ([1965] 1971). This illuminates the many and various ways through which the intrinsic motivation to contribute toward such goods can be crowded out by the application of selective incentives. I suggest that the crowding‐out effect increases the cost to society of organizing the provision of collective goods and argue in favor of designing selective incentives that mitigate this effect.
Motives for Intergenerational Transfers: New Test for Exchange
Authors: Wang Jingshu 
Published: March 2010

AbstractThe question of motives for private transfers is one with important policy implications. The evidence from empirical literature has been mixed. This study proposes new tests and evidence of the “exchange motive.” It examines the key assumption on which the exchange motive model is built: that a donor's behavior is determined by his/her own expectation of receiving inter‐vivos transfers or bequests in return. Results from national data show that adult children's time transfers to their aging parents were positively associated with their expectation of inter‐vivos financial transfers, but not with their expectation of receiving bequests.
Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words
Authors: Larkin Jill H. , Simon Herbert A. 
Published: March 2010

We distinguish diagrammatic from sentential paper‐and‐pencil representations of information by developing alternative models of information‐processing systems that are informationally equivalent and that can be characterized as sentential or diagrammatic. Sentential representations are sequential, like the propositions in a text. Diagrammatic representations are indexed by location in a plane. Diagrammatic representations also typically display information that is only implicit in sentential representations and that therefore has to be computed, sometimes at great cost, to make it explicit for use. We then contrast the computational efficiency of these representations for solving several illustrative problems in mathematics and physics.When two representations are informationally equivalent, their computational efficiency depends on the information‐processing operators that act on them. Two sets of operators may differ in their capabilities for recognizing patterns, in the inferences they can carry out directly, and in their control strategies (in particular, the control of search). Diagrammatic and sentential representations support operators that differ in all of these respects. Operators working on one representation may recognize features readily or make inferences directly that are difficult to realize in the other representation. Most important, however, are differences in the efficiency of search for information and in the explicitness of information. In the representations we call diagrammatic, information is organized by location, and often much of the information needed to make an inference is present and explicit at a single location. In addition, cues to the next logical step in the problem may be present at an adjacent location. Therefore problem solving can proceed through a smooth traversal of the diagram, and may require very little search or computation of elements that had been implicit.
Elevated CO2 lessens predation of Chrysopa sinica on Aphis gossypii
Authors: Gao Feng , Chen Fajun , Ge Feng 
Published: March 2010

AbstractMost studies on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on organisms have focused on the performance of plants or herbivores. Few reports have examined the impact on the ability of predators at the third trophic level. In this experiment, we made use of open‐top chambers to quantify the effects of elevated CO2 on growth, development, and predatory ability of two successive generations of Chinese lacewing, Chrysopa sinica (Tjeder) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), feeding on cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii (Glover) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), which were reared on cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvaceae), grown under elevated CO2 (double ambient vs. ambient). Higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations reduced the duration of larval development and the survival rate of pupae, and caused decreased weight in adult female C. sinica, but had no significant effects on survival rate of each larval stage, female adult fecundity, egg hatch rate, or adult life span. The predatory ability of larvae in the third instar and the total larval stage of C. sinica that fed on A. gossypii were significantly lower in elevated CO2 environments. The number of aphids consumed by first‐generation lacewing population did not change significantly with different CO2 treatments; however, significantly fewer aphids were consumed by the second generation of the lacewing population with elevated CO2. We speculate that A. gossypii may become a more serious pest under an environment with elevated CO2 concentrations because of the reduced predatory ability of C. sinica on A. gossypii.
Is the fast growth of an equatorial Micropterus salmoides population explained by high water temperature?
Authors: Britton J. R. , Harper D. M. , Oyugi D. O. 
Published: March 2010

Britton JR, Harper DM, Oyugi DO. Is the fast growth of an equatorial Micropterus salmoides population explained by high water temperature? Ecology of Freshwater Fish 2010: 19: 228–238. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/SAbstract –  Marginal increment analysis of scales collected from the introduced Micropterus salmoides population of Lake Naivasha, Kenya revealed the formation of an annual growth check, validating their use to age individual fish. Subsequent analysis of scales from 372 fish collected between 2002 and 2009 revealed individuals were very fast growing compared with native populations in North America and other introduced populations in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. This was likely to be as a result of the water temperatures in Lake Naivasha exceeding 20 °C throughout the year. This was corroborated by a meta‐analysis of the growth parameters asymptotic length L∞ and growth coefficient K from across their geographical range that revealed variance was explained by differences in mean annual air temperatures. At a break point of approximately 10 °C, there was a shift to reduced L∞ and increased K, suggesting a temperature driven trade‐off between growth rate and ultimate length. When adjusted for temperature and weighted for sample size, there were significant differences between the growth parameters of the North American and introduced populations, suggesting that other abiotic and biotic variables were also important determinants of the growth of individuals between the two ranges.