bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Radon and radium content of some cold and thermal aquifers from Bihor County (northwestern Romania)
Authors: ROBA C. A. , CODREA V. , MOLDOVAN M. , BACIU C. , COSMA C. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractIn the present study, two of the major naturally occurring radionuclides (226Ra and 222Rn) were analyzed in water samples from shallow, medium‐depth, and deep geothermal aquifers, all of which are located in Bihor County, northwestern Romania. Here, the results of radon and radium measurements, performed from 2008 to 2009 in 50 locations, are reported. Radon proved to have a wide range of activity, with values from 4.5 to 110.8 Bq l−1 for shallow aquifers, from 9.3 to 106.0 Bq l−1 for medium‐depth aquifers, and from 10.1 to 34.8 Bq l−1 for deep geothermal aquifers. The shallow aquifers have lower radium concentrations (0.06 to 0.48 Bq l−1), compared to medium‐depth aquifers (0.1 to 0.52 Bq l−1) and deep geothermal aquifers (0.27 to 1.8 Bq l−1). The principal aim was a thorough investigation into the possible correlations between the occurrence of radon and radium in different aquifers and the hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical, and geothermal features of the area. Besides the direct link between the occurrence of uranium and thorium and the 226Ra and 222Rn contents in groundwater, the measurements we performed have allowed us to identify a secondary control on radionuclide distributions caused by the adsorption of dissolved radium onto clay minerals in exchange for sodium (for the sandy clay aquifer of Săcuieni), the high competition for adsorption sites in aquifers with high concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium (for the limestone dolomite aquifer of Oradea), and the role of thermal processes.
Discrete cue‐conditioned alcohol‐seeking after protracted abstinence: pattern of neural activation and involvement of orexin1 receptors
Authors: Jupp B , Krstew E , Dezsi G , Lawrence AJ 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The enduring propensity for alcoholics to relapse even following years of abstinence presents a major hurdle for treatment. Here we report a model of relapse following protracted abstinence and investigate the pattern of neuronal activation following cue‐induced reinstatement and administration of the orexin1 receptor antagonist SB‐334867 in inbred alcohol‐preferring rats.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Rats were trained to self‐administer alcohol under operant conditions and divided into two groups: immediate (reinstated immediately following extinction) and delayed (extinguished and then housed for 5 months before reinstatement). Prior to reinstatement, animals were treated with vehicle (immediate n= 11, delayed n= 11) or SB‐334867 (20 mg·kg−1 i.p.; immediate n= 6, delayed n= 11). Fos expression was compared between each group and to animals that underwent extinction only.KEY RESULTS SB‐334867 significantly attenuated cue‐induced reinstatement in both groups. Immediate reinstatement increased Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), infra‐limbic (IL), pre‐limbic (PrL), orbitofrontal (OFC) and piriform cortices, the lateral and dorsomedial hypothalamus, central amygdala and basolateral amygdala (BLA), and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Following delayed reinstatement, Fos expression was further elevated in cortical structures. Concurrent with preventing reinstatement, SB‐334867 decreased Fos in NAc core, PrL and OFC following immediate reinstatement. Following protracted abstinence, SB‐334867 treatment decreased reinstatement‐induced Fos in the PrL, OFC and piriform cortices.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Cue‐induced alcohol seeking can be triggered following protracted abstinence in rats. The effects of SB‐334867 on both behaviour and Fos expression suggest that the orexin system is implicated in cue‐induced reinstatement, although some loci may shift following protracted abstinence.
Effects of β‐adrenoceptor stimulation on delayed rectifier K+ currents in canine ventricular cardiomyocytes
Authors: Harmati G , Bányász T , Bárándi L , Szentandrássy N , Horváth B , Szabó G , Szentmiklósi JA , Szénási G , Nánási PP , Magyar J 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE While the slow delayed rectifier K+ current (IKs) is known to be enhanced by the stimulation of β‐adrenoceptors in several mammalian species, phosphorylation‐dependent regulation of the rapid delayed rectifier K+ current (IKr) is controversial.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH In the present study, therefore, the effect of isoprenaline (ISO), activators and inhibitors of the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway on IKr and IKs was studied in canine ventricular myocytes using the whole cell patch clamp technique.KEY RESULTS I
Kr was significantly increased (by 30–50%) following superfusion with ISO, forskolin or intracellular application of PKA activator cAMP analogues (cAMP, 8‐Br‐cAMP, 6‐Bnz‐cAMP). Inhibition of PKA by Rp‐8‐Br‐cAMP had no effect on baseline IKr. The stimulating effect of ISO on IKr was completely inhibited by selective β1‐adrenoceptor antagonists (metoprolol and CGP‐20712A), by the PKA inhibitor Rp‐8‐Br‐cAMP and by the PKA activator cAMP analogues, but not by the EPAC activator 8‐pCPT‐2'‐O‐Me‐cAMP. In comparison, IKs was increased threefold by the activation of PKA (by ISO or 8‐Br‐cAMP), and strongly reduced by the PKA inhibitor Rp‐8‐Br‐cAMP. The ISO‐induced enhancement of IKs was decreased by Rp‐8‐Br‐cAMP and completely inhibited by 8‐Br‐cAMP.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The results indicate that the stimulation of β1‐adrenoceptors increases IKr, similar to IKs, via the activation of PKA in canine ventricular cells.
Enhancement of endothelial permeability by coculture with peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of HLA Class II antibody that was associated with transfusion‐related acute lung injury
Authors: Wakamoto Shinobu , Fujihara Mitsuhiro , Takahashi Daisuke , Niwa Koichi , Sato Shinichiro , Kato Toshiaki , Azuma Hiroshi , Ikeda Hisami 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND: HLA Class II antibody–initiated activation of monocytes possessing the corresponding antigen is thought to participate in the pathogenesis of transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI). Pulmonary edema, a hallmark of TRALI, is caused by increasing vascular permeability.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To investigate the contribution of HLA Class II antibody and monocytes to the development of pulmonary edema in TRALI, we studied whether the permeability of human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs) could be enhanced by coculturing HMVECs with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) in the presence of HLA Class II antibody–containing plasma, which was implicated in TRALI (anti‐HLA‐DR plasma). In addition, similar experiments were performed with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The endothelial permeability to fluoresceinated dextran, which was added from the start of coculture, was measured.RESULTS: The coculture of HMVECs or HUVECs with PBMNCs in the presence of anti‐HLA‐DR plasma resulted in the increase of endothelial permeability in the corresponding antigen‐antibody–dependent manner. CV‐3988, a platelet‐activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist, almost completely suppressed the increase in endothelial permeability. Neutralizing antibodies to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α alone and simultaneous addition of the antibodies to TNF‐α and interleukin (IL)‐1β to the coculture partially suppressed the permeability increase of HMVECs and HUVECs, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: HLA Class II antibody and monocytes in the corresponding antigen‐antibody combination caused the enhancement of endothelial permeability. PAF, TNF‐α, and/or IL‐1β might be involved in the endothelial permeability increase. HLA Class II antibody–initiated monocyte activation could lead to the development of pulmonary edema in TRALI.
Low‐density lipoprotein apheresis reduces platelet factor 4 on the surface of platelets: a possible protective mechanism against heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis
Authors: Tanhehco Yvette C. , Rux Ann H. , Sachais Bruce S. 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND: Heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (HITT) is characterized by thrombocytopenia due to the formation of antibodies against heparin : platelet factor 4 (PF4) complexes. Despite the exposure to heparin during treatment and predisposition of patients with atherosclerosis to HITT, HITT in patients undergoing low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis is rare. We investigated the possibility that LDL apheresis decreases PF4 on platelet (PLT) surfaces and/or plasma HITT antibody levels, either of which would disfavor HITT.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We enrolled 25 patients undergoing LDL apheresis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Blood samples were drawn before and after treatment. Plasma samples were drawn proximal and distal to the LA‐15 treatment column. PF4, HITT antibodies, heparin levels, and P‐selectin were measured.RESULTS: No patient had clinical symptoms of HITT. The LA‐15 column was found to efficiently remove PF4. PF4 levels in peripheral blood plasma did not change significantly after LDL apheresis. However, PLT surface PF4 significantly decreased after treatment. HITT antibodies were found in only two patients and were nonfunctional. PLT surface P‐selectin did not change during treatment.CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that LDL apheresis via dextran sulfate absorption removes plasma PF4 and reduces the amount of PF4 on the surface of circulating PLTs. Reduced surface PF4 may decrease antibody formation and/or recognition by HITT antibodies. These data provide a potential explanation for the near lack of HITT in hypercholesterolemic patients undergoing LDL apheresis. They also suggest the possibility that LDL apheresis using dextran sulfate adsorption may have therapeutic value in the treatment of HITT.
Direct detection of the bacterial stress response in intact samples of platelets by differential impedance
Authors: Rieder Ronald , Zhao Zhihui , Nittayajarn Aphakorn , Zavizion Boris 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND: We have previously described a new rapid approach that relies on monitoring intentionally stressed bacteria in contaminated platelet concentrates (PCs). This earlier work included human cell lysis with Triton X‐100 and filtration as steps in the sample preparation. This study was undertaken to develop an improved and time‐saving protocol that enables direct bacterial detection in PCs without lysis and filtration.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Apheresis‐ or whole blood–derived PCs were spiked with 17 model bacteria and tested at final concentrations from 103 to 106 colony‐forming units (CFUs)/mL. The contaminated PCs were treated with a chemical compound that induces a stress response in bacteria and monitored using differential impedance sensing to detect and record subtle changes in the dielectric permittivities of the contaminated platelet (PLT) samples.RESULTS: No measurable responses from sterile PLT samples were observed during exposure to the compounds used as stressors. In contrast, distinct response profiles were obtained without exception for all 17 bacterial species for all bacterial concentrations tested. Bacterial presence was established within 5 to 10 minutes for high inocula (106 and 105 CFUs/mL) while low inocula (104 and 103 CFUs/mL) were usually detectable within 20 minutes. The entire testing process routinely took less than 30 minutes from the point of sampling to the time that the final results are available.CONCLUSIONS: The results described here demonstrate that monitoring the development of stress in bacteria is a fast and simple way to detect 103 CFUs/mL or more bacteria in complex cellular blood products such as PCs.
The potential impact of new donor height and weight criteria on young donor eligibility and faint or prefaint reaction rates
Authors: Dunbar Nancy , Katz Jean , Nambiar Ashok 
Published: October 2010

BACKGROUND: New criteria for young blood donors were recently developed to minimize faint reactions in this high‐risk group. The aim of this study was to determine the impact implementation of these criteria would have on collections and donor faint or prefaint reaction rates at our university blood center.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Donor history questionnaires from eight consecutive undergraduate campus blood drives were retrospectively reviewed. Height, weight, sex, and age were used to determine the number of donors potentially deferred.RESULTS: During the study period, 81% of donors were age 22 or younger (537/662) with a reaction rate of 2.4% (16/662). If these new height and weight criteria were implemented, 11.5% of our young donors would have been deferred (76/662) preventing 2 of 16 reactions. Revision of height and weight criteria with consideration for a 475‐mL collection volume would decrease deferral rates to 1.2% (8/662) with no reactions prevented.CONCLUSION: Implementation of new height and weight criteria based on a standard 525‐mL collection volume would result in a high rate of donor deferral. Revised criteria adjusted for our smaller collection volume would significantly decrease donor deferral rates. All reactions observed in young donors during our study period occurred in those predicted to have a less than 15% decrease in total blood volume after donation.
Density Zoning and Class Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas*
Authors: Rothwell Jonathan T. , Massey Douglas S. 
Published: October 2010

Objectives. Socioeconomic segregation rose substantially in U.S. cities during the final decades of the 20th century, and we argue that zoning regulations are an important cause of this increase.Methods. We measure neighborhood economic segregation using the Gini coefficient for neighborhood income inequality and the poor‐affluent exposure index. These outcomes are regressed on an index of density zoning developed from the work of Pendall for 50 U.S. metropolitan areas, while controlling for other metropolitan characteristics likely to affect urban housing markets and class segregation.Results. For both 2000 and changes from 1990 to 2000, OLS estimates reveal a strong relationship between density zoning and income segregation, and replication using 2SLS suggests that the relationship is causal. We also show that zoning is associated with higher interjurisdictional inequality.Conclusions. Metropolitan areas with suburbs that restrict the density of residential construction are more segregated on the basis of income than those with more permissive density zoning regimes. This arrangement perpetuates and exacerbates racial and class inequality in the United States.
Opportunities for Making Ends Meet and Upward Mobility: Differences in Organizational Deprivation Across Urban and Suburban Poor Neighborhoods*
Authors: Murphy Alexandra K. , Wallace Danielle 
Published: October 2010

Objectives.Given the recent rise of poverty in U.S. suburbs, this study asks: What poor neighborhoods are most disadvantageous, those in the city or those in the suburbs? Building on recent urban sociological work demonstrating the importance of neighborhood organizations for the poor, we are concerned with one aspect of disadvantage—the lack of availability of organizational resources oriented toward the poor. By breaking down organizations into those that promote mobility versus those that help individuals meet their daily subsistence needs, we seek to explore potential variations in the type of disadvantage that may exist.Methods.We test whether poor urban or suburban neighborhoods are more likely to be organizationally deprived by breaking down organizations into three types: hardship organizations, educational organizations, and employment organizations. We use data from the 2000 U.S. County Business Patterns and the 2000 U.S. Census and test neighborhood deprivation using logistic regression models.Results.We find that suburban poor neighborhoods are more likely to be organizationally deprived than are urban poor neighborhoods, especially with respect to organizations that promote upward mobility. Interesting racial and ethnic composition factors shape this more general finding.Conclusion.Our findings suggest that if a poor individual is to live in a poor neighborhood, with respect to access to organizational resources, he or she would be better off living in the central city. Suburban residence engenders isolation from organizations that will help meet one's daily needs and even more so from those offering opportunities for mobility.
When Nature Pushes Back: Environmental Impact and the Spatial Redistribution of Socially Vulnerable Populations*
Authors: Elliott James R. , Pais Jeremy 
Published: October 2010

Objectives. This research investigates the spatial redistribution of socially vulnerable subpopulations during long‐term recovery from natural disaster. We hypothesize that the local environmental impact of a disaster influences this redistribution process and that how it does so varies by the urban or rural context in which the disaster occurs.Methods. To test these hypotheses, we use a novel research design that combines the natural experiment offered by Hurricane Andrew with GIS technology and local census data.Results. Findings indicate that in a more urbanized disaster zone (Miami), long‐term recovery displaces socially disadvantaged residents from harder‐hit areas; yet, in a more rural disaster zone (southwestern Louisiana), long‐term recovery concentrates socially disadvantaged residents within these harder‐hit areas.Conclusion. These findings bridge classic and contemporary research on postdisaster recovery and open new terrain for thinking about how environmental and social forces intersect to transform regions in different settlement contexts.
Racial Mismatch: The Divergence Between Form and Function in Data for Monitoring Racial Discrimination of Hispanics*
Authors: Roth Wendy D. 
Published: October 2010

Objectives.A primary justification for collecting U.S. racial statistics is the need to monitor racial discrimination. This article aims to show how analyses of Hispanics—who may officially be of any race—tend to miss discrimination based on racial appearance by relying on data that instead capture racial self‐identification, a different aspect of race that often does not correspond.Methods.The study analyzes 60 qualitative interviews with Dominican and Puerto Rican migrants in the New York metropolitan area. It employs multiple measures to represent theoretically distinct aspects of the lived experience of race.Results.Respondents interpret the Census race question in different ways corresponding to different aspects of race, which often do not match one another. Although respondents experience discrimination on the basis of phenotype, their racial self‐identification is a poor proxy for measuring their racial appearance.Conclusions.Scholars need to develop a language of race that communicates the multiplicity of social processes involved. Social surveys must provide measures of these multiple components, including interviewer observations of racial appearance, to monitor discrimination on the basis of phenotype within Hispanic groups.
Inequality, Income, and Poverty: Comparative Global Evidence*
Authors: Fosu Augustin Kwasi 
Published: October 2010

Objectives.The study seeks to provide comparative global evidence on the role of income inequality, relative to income growth, in poverty reduction.Methods.An analysis‐of‐covariance model is estimated using a large global sample of 1980–2004 unbalanced panel data, with the headcount measure of poverty as the dependent variable, and the Gini coefficient and PPP‐adjusted mean income as explanatory variables. Both random‐effects and fixed‐effects methods are employed in the estimation.Results.The responsiveness of poverty to income is a decreasing function of inequality, and the inequality elasticity of poverty is actually larger than the income elasticity of poverty. Furthermore, there is a large variation across regions (and countries) in the relative effects of inequality on poverty.Conclusion.Income distribution plays a more important role than might be traditionally acknowledged in poverty reduction, though this importance varies widely across regions and countries.
Saline versus Saline with Blood as a Contrast Agent for Right‐to‐left Shunt Diagnosis by Transcranial Doppler: Is There a Significant Difference?
Authors: Lange Marcos Christiano , Zétola Viviane Flumignan , Piovesan Élcio J , Werneck Lineu César 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND PURPOSEAgitated saline solution (AS) is the contrast agent (CA) of choice for the diagnosis of right‐to‐left shunt (RLS). The aim of this study was to compare AS to AS with blood (ASb) in the diagnosis and quantification of RLS by contrast‐enhanced transcranial Doppler (cTCD).METHODSForty‐two patients were evaluated for RLS in both of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA) by cTCD. Both AS and ASb were used as CAs while the patient breathed spontaneously and during two different moments of a Valsalva maneuver. Embolus track (ET) counts were obtained from each MCA (MCA analysis) and from each patient (patient analysis).RESULTSIn the MCA analysis, at least one ET was identified in 109 (43.2%) of the AS tests and 136 (54%) of the ASb tests (P= .016). The ET counts were higher with ASb (78.0 ± 117.6) than with AS alone (46.9 ± 66.7; P= .01). In the patient analysis, at least one ET was identified in 62 (49.2%) of the AS tests and 77 (61.1%) of the ASb tests (P= .057). Similar ET counts were generated with both CA solutions.CONCLUSIONSThese findings support the inclusion of ASb as an option for RLS diagnosis in selected patients.
Telocytes as supporting cells for myocardial tissue organization in developing and adult heart
Authors: Bani Daniele , Formigli Lucia , Gherghiceanu Mihaela , Faussone‐Pellegrini Maria‐Simonetta 
Published: October 2010

AbstractRecent evidence indicates that the adult heart contains sub‐epicardial cardiogenic niches where cardiac stem cells and stromal supporting cells reside together. Such stromal cells include a special population, previously identified as interstitial Cajal‐like cells and recently termed telocytes because of their long, slender processes (telopodes) embracing the myocardial precursors. Specific stromal cells, presumptively originated from the epicardium, have been postulated to populate the developing heart where they are thought to play a role in its morphogenesis. This study is designed to investigate the occurrence of telocytes in the developing heart and provide clues to better understand their role as supporting cells involved in the architectural organization of the myocardium during heart development. Our results showed that stromal cells with the immunophenotypical (vimentin, CD34) and ultrastructural features of telocytes were present in the mouse heart since early embryonic to adult life, as well as in primary cultures of neonatal mouse cardiac cells. These cells formed an extended network of telopodes which closely embraced the growing cardiomyocytes and appeared to contribute to the aggregation of cardiomyocyte clusters in vitro. In conclusion, the present findings strongly suggest that, during heart development, stromal cells identifiable as telocytes could play a nursing and guiding role for myocardial precursors to form the correct three‐dimensional tissue pattern and contribute to compaction of the embryonic myocardial trabeculae. It is tempting to speculate that telocytes could be a novel, possible target for therapeutic strategies aimed at potentiating cardiac repair and regeneration after ischemic injury.