bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increased neuronal and glial expression of protein kinase C isoforms in neocortex of transgenic Tg2576 mice with amyloid pathology
Authors: Roßner S. , Mehlhorn G. , Schliebs R. , Bigl V. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractWe investigated the influence of five‐ to sevenfold neuronal overexpression of the Swedish mutation of human APP695 (APPsw) in the transgenic mouse strain Tg2576 on neocortical protein kinase C (PKC) expression and subcellular distribution. Using specific antibodies to PKCα, PKCβ, PKCγ, PKCε and PKCζ isoforms for Western blot analysis, we observed increased immunoreactivity for PKCα and PKCγ isoforms in crude tissue homogenates from the neocortex of 16‐month‐old APPsw mice as compared with nontransgenic littermates, which was not present in 6 month‐old Tg2576 mice. We also observed elevated levels of PKCα, PKCβ, PKCγ and PKCζ in membrane fractions and reduced concentrations of PKCα and PKCγ in cytosolic fractions of aged Tg2576 mice, indicating that these PKC isoforms are in their activated state. In young, 6‐month‐old Tg2576 mice, however, the increase in membrane‐bound PKC isoforms and concomitant decrease in cytosolic PKC isoforms was much less pronounced, demonstrating the age‐dependent nature of alterations in PKC isoforms. Immunocytochemistry of brain sections supported these findings and revealed increased neuronal labelling for PKCα, PKCγ and PKCλ isoforms in neocortex of 16‐month‐old APPsw mice compared with nontransgenic littermates, with the increase being strongest for PKCγ and PKCλ isoforms. Additionally, PKCγ and to a lesser extent PKCλ isoforms were induced in reactive astrocytes in proximity to amyloid plaques. Our data indicate that neuronal overexpression of APPsw causes a dynamic change in neuronal expression and activation of multiple PKC isoforms known to be regulators of proteolytic amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing (PKCα) and of neuronal survival (PKCλ and PKCζ). The induction of the PKCγ and PKCλ isoforms in reactive astrocytes surrounding amyloid plaques might be required for astrocyte activation and astrocytic cytokine expression in response to amyloid plaque formation.
Behavioural relevance modulates access to spatial working memory in humans
Authors: Ploner Christoph J. , Ostendorf Florian , Brandt Stephan A. , Gaymard Bertrand M. , Rivaud‐Péchoux Sophie , Ploner Markus , Villringer Arno , Pierrot‐Deseilligny Charles 
Published: July 2009

AbstractNeurophysiological studies in monkeys suggest selective representation of behaviourally relevant information in working memory. So far, no behavioural evidence for this has been reported for humans. Here, we investigated the role of behavioural relevance for access to human visuospatial working memory by using delayed oculomotor response tasks. Subjects were presented two successive visual cues in different and unpredictable locations while fixating on a central fixation point. After a delay, an unpredictable auditory signal (one beep or two beeps) sounded and the central fixation point was turned off, initiating the oculomotor response (i.e. memory‐guided saccade) phase. Two groups of 10 subjects each were studied in two conditions: in the ‘relevant’ condition, subjects were instructed to memorize both visual cues and to move the eyes to the remembered position of the first cue (one beep) or the second cue (two beeps). The same stimuli were used in the ‘irrelevant’ condition, but subjects were instructed to memorize and move the eyes to the position of the first cue only, regardless of the second cue and the auditory signal. In the ‘relevant’ condition, we found a significant increase in errors of memory‐guided saccades to the first cue, when the second cue was located between central fixation point and first cue. This spatially selective interference effect disappeared in the ‘irrelevant’ condition, despite identical stimuli. On a behavioural level, these results show for the first time the significance of behavioural relevance for access to human spatial working memory. These findings complement recent single‐neuron studies in monkeys, showing that the neuronal substrates of working memory selectively represent behaviourally relevant perceptual information.
Depression and Diabetes
Authors: Robinson N. , Fuller J. H. , Edmeades S. P. 
Published: July 2009

The incidence and prevalence of depression in diabetic patients in the United Kingdom is unknown. Since depression may influence blood glucose control which in turn may be related to the development of diabetic complications, it is important to estimate its prevalence in diabetic patients. The prevalence of depression was investigated in a group of Caucasian and West Indian, insulin ‐(IDDM) and non‐insulin‐dependent (NIDDM) adult diabetics and a non‐diabetic comparison group. Prevalence of depression was 8.5% for both groups and a further 19.2% and 14.6%, respectively, had borderline depression. Presence of depression was unrelated to sex, ethnic group, duration or type (IDDM or NIDDM) of diabetes and social class but significantly related to type of accommodation, marital status, and amount of social contact.A higher percentage of diabetics with psychiatric symptoms had one or more current complications compared to ‘normal’ diabetics. Diabetics suffer from a similar amount of depression to non‐diabetics, but psychiatric symptoms may be related to the frequency of diabetic complications.
Acute Effects of a Somatostatin Analogue on Kidney Function in Type 1 Diabetic Patients
Authors: Pedersen M. Mau , Christensen S. Engkjær , Christiansen J. Sandahl , Pedersen E. Bjerregaard , Mogensen C.E. , Ørskov H. 
Published: July 2009

Suppression of growth hormone by means of somatostatin has been suggested as a possible adjunct therapy in Type 1 diabetes. To assess the acute effect of the somatostatin analogue SMS 201–995 on kidney function in uncomplicated Type 1 diabetes, 13 normoalbuminuric, normotensive diabetic patients were investigated before and during IV infusion of SMS 201–995 (8 μg h−1). A control experiment with infusion of carrier only was also performed. The SMS infusion induced a reduction in the glomerular filtration rate (clearance of 125I‐iothalamate) and renal plasma flow (131I‐hippuran) from 140 ± 15 (mean ± SD) and 550 ± 69 to 131 ± 14 (2p < 0.005) and 492 ± 73 ml min−1 1.73‐m−2 (2p < 0.001), while filtration fraction and total renal resistance rose (both 2p < 0.001). Urinary albumin excretion rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose concentration were unchanged. Plasma growth hormone and glucagon were significantly suppressed. The reduction in glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow correlated with the fall in glucagon concentration (r = 0.57, 2p = 0.04, and r = 0.63, 2p = 0.02). The urinary flow rate was markedly reduced, urine osmolality increased, and fractional excretion of sodium, calcium, and phosphate were reduced. Arginine vasopressin, atrial natriuretic peptide, angiotensin II, and aldosterone were unchanged by the SMS infusion.Thus SMS 201–995 acutely reduces glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow in uncomplicated Type 1 diabetes and has an antidiuretic effect. The effects may be related to suppression of glucagon secretion.
Nascent Entrepreneurs and Venture Emergence: Opportunity Confidence, Human Capital, and Early Planning
Authors: Dimov Dimo 
Published: July 2009

abstractNascent entrepreneurs continuously evaluate the merits of the opportunities they pursue and so can abandon those that lack promise and persist with those that remain attractive. This paper articulates this evolving judgment about the opportunity as the nascent entrepreneur's opportunity confidence. It situates this construct in the context of the nascent entrepreneur's human capital and early planning actions in respect to the pursued opportunity, and in respect to the emergence of the nascent venture. Analyses of PSED data show that opportunity confidence positively affects venture emergence and that, through it, entrepreneurial experience and early planning have only indirect effects on venture emergence. In contrast, industry experience has a direct, positive effect on venture emergence. These results provide some novel insights into the nascent entrepreneurial process as well as into the role of human capital and early planning in that process.
Representing intentions in self and other: studies of autism and typical development
Authors: Williams David , Happé Francesca 
Published: July 2009

AbstractTwo experiments were conducted to explore the extent to which individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as well as young typically developing (TD) children, are explicitly aware of their own and others’ intentions. In Experiment 1, participants with ASD were significantly less likely than age‐ and ability‐matched comparison participants to correctly recognize their own knee‐jerk reflex movements as unintentional. Performance on this knee‐jerk task was associated with performance on measures of false belief understanding, independent of age and verbal ability, in both participants with ASD and TD children. In Experiment 2, participants with ASD were significantly less able than comparison participants to correctly recognize their own or another person’s mistaken actions as unintended, in a ‘Transparent Intentions’ task (Russell & Hill, 2001; Russell, Hill & Franco, 2001). Performance on aspects of the Transparent Intentions task was associated with performance on measures of false belief understanding, independent of age and verbal ability, in both participants with ASD and TD children. This study suggests that individuals with ASD have a diminished awareness of their own and others’ intentions and that this diminution is associated with other impairments in theory of mind.
PSYCHIATRY IN A BATTLE ZONE
Authors: PAJEVIĆ IZET , HASANOVIĆ MEVLUDIN , KOPRIĆ ALINA 
Published: July 2009

ABSTRACTThe authors describe the arrival and treatment of 164 severe chronic psychiatric patients who were displaced from the Serbian army‐controlled Jakes psychiatric hospital and off‐loaded on the afternoon of 28th of May, 1992 at the gates of the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla.Through analysis of their incomplete medical records, which arrived with the patients in Tuzla, and analysis of their activities during and after the war, they found that 83 of the patients (50%) were males and 147 (89.6%) were admitted to the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla. Of the patients, 86 (58.5%) were found to be Serbs. The majority of them were incapable of independent living and required ongoing medical and social care. They were from all regions of Bosnia‐Herzegovina, 81.6% had schizophrenia and 70 (47.6%) were over 50 years of age.For its humanitarian work, its contribution to peace and for the maintenance of the multi‐ethnic Bosnia‐Herzegovina, the Psychiatry Clinic in Tuzla received the Golden Award for Peace from the International Legion of Humanists in May 1998.
‘EARLY TERMINAL SEDATION’ IS A DISTINCT ENTITY
Authors: CELLARIUS VICTOR 
Published: July 2009

ABSTRACTThere has been much discussion regarding the acceptable use of sedation for palliation. A particularly contentious practice concerns deep, continuous sedation given to patients who are not imminently dying and given without provision of hydration or nutrition, with the end result that death is hastened. This has been called ‘early terminal sedation’. Early terminal sedation is a practice composed of two legally and ethically accepted treatment options. Under certain conditions, patients have the right to reject hydration and nutrition, even if these are life‐sustaining. Patients are also entitled to sedation as palliation for intolerable, intractable suffering. Though early terminal sedation is thought to be rare at present, the changing nature of palliative medicine suggests its use will increase.Arguments regarding early terminal sedation have failed to recognize early terminal sedation as a distinct legal and ethical entity. It can be seen as both the simple sum of treatment refusal and sedation for palliation, analogous to terminal sedation. It can also be seen as an indivisible palliative treatment, more analogous to assisted suicide or euthanasia. But ultimately, it is wholly analogous neither to terminal sedation given when death is imminent, nor to assisted suicide or euthanasia. This paper contends that early terminal sedation should be considered as a distinct entity. Such a reconception promises to provide a way forward in the debate, practice and policy regarding this contentious area of palliative medicine.
RECONSIDERING THE VALUE OF CONSENT IN BIOBANK RESEARCH
Authors: ALLEN JUDY , MCNAMARA BEVERLEY 
Published: July 2009

ABSTRACTBiobanks for long‐term research pose challenges to the legal and ethical validity of consent to participate. Different models of consent have been proposed to answer some of these challenges. This paper contributes to this discussion by considering the meaning and value of consent to participants in biobanks. Empirical data from a qualitative study is used to provide a participant view of the consent process and to demonstrate that, despite limited understanding of the research, consent provides the research participants with some level of control and a form of self determination that they value. Participation is framed as a moral act of a responsible citizen providing reinforcement of self identity. Consent symbolizes the trust invested in researchers and research institutions to use the biobank for the public good. The paper argues that consent continues to play an important role in biobank participation and that a participant view should inform proposals to modify consent processes.
Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies
Authors: Thelen Kathleen 
Published: July 2009

AbstractThe political‐economic institutions that have traditionally reconciled economic efficiency with social solidarity in the advanced industrial countries, and specifically in the so‐called ‘coordinated market economies’, are indisputably under pressure today. However, scholars disagree on the trajectory and significance of the institutional changes we can observe in many of these countries, and they generally lack the conceptual tools that would be necessary to resolve these disagreements. This article attempts to break through this theoretical impasse by providing a framework for determining the direction, identifying the mode, and assessing the meaning of the changes we can observe in levels of both economic coordination and social solidarity.
Bridging a gap: the (lack of a) sociology of oral health and healthcare
Authors: Exley Catherine 
Published: July 2009

AbstractThis article provides an historical review of international research related to sociology and oral health and healthcare. I begin by considering the relevance of the mouth and oral health to social interactions and physical health, and outline existing inequalities in oral health and healthcare experiences. The paper examines critically some of the existing published research in the field – considering both what might be described as sociology of oral health and healthcare and sociology in oral healthcare – and demonstrates the dearth of sociological research related to this subject compared to other areas of interest within the field of sociology of health and illness. I conclude by suggesting some ways in which this area could be expanded and developed further. I suggest that sociological analyses of how individuals experience, understand and manage their mouth and oral health, can add to and enhance the broader field of the sociology of health and illness. Further, examining experiences and provision of oral healthcare may provide sociology with a new opportunity to explore the neglected field of private healthcare, but also to engage with health policy makers who seek to address oral healthcare needs.
IS METAPHYSICAL NIHILISM INTERESTING?
Authors: EFIRD DAVID , STONEHAM TOM 
Published: July 2009

AbstractSuppose nothing exists. Then it is true that nothing exists. What makes that true? Nothing! So it seems that if nothing existed, then the principle that every truth is made true by something (the truthmaker principle) would be false. So if it is possible that nothing exists, a claim often called ‘metaphysical nihilism’, then the truthmaker principle is not necessary. This paper explores various ways to resolve this conflict without restricting metaphysical nihilism in such a way that it would become trivial and uninteresting.
Smoking cessation in HIV patients: rate of success and associated factors
Authors: Fuster M , Estrada V , Fernandez‐Pinilla MC , Fuentes‐Ferrer ME , Tellez MJ , Vergas J , Serrano‐Villar S , Fernandez‐Cruz A 
Published: July 2009

BackgroundSmoking is the modifiable cardiovascular (CV) risk factor that contributes most to causing premature CV disease. Prevalence of smoking in patients with HIV infection is double that of the general population.ObjectivesTo determine the rate of patients succeeding in quitting smoking after 12 months, factors associated with this success, and the characteristics of tobacco consumption and nicotine dependence.MethodsLongitudinal descriptive study. Three hundred and sixty‐eight HIV‐infected patients were interviewed. Smokers in Prochaska's stage of action began a programme to quit smoking. We registered the variables related to tobacco consumption and the level of success of cessation.Results63.9% of the patients were active smokers and 14% of them began the cessation programme. Average motivation for cessation was 7.8 ± 1.4 (Richmond) and nicotine dependence rate 5.5 ± 3.0 (Fagerström). After 1 year, 25% had quit smoking. Those patients who stopped smoking presented a higher motivation level (8.8 ± 1.3 vs. 7.5 ± 1.5, P=0.048). Cessation significantly reduced their CV risk at 12 months {2.5 [interquartile range (IQR) 2.0–5.2] vs. 1.7 [IQR 1.0–3.5], P=0.026}.ConclusionsThe prevalence of smokers in our population of HIV‐infected patients was 63.9%. Only 14% began a smoking cessation programme. Twelve months after a programme to quit smoking, cessation rate was 25%; this was influenced mostly by the level of motivation of the patient.
MHC2TA rs4774C and HHV‐6A active replication in multiple sclerosis patients
Authors: Alvarez‐Lafuente R. , Martinez A. , Garcia‐Montojo M. , Mas A. , De Las Heras V. , Dominguez‐Mozo M. I. , Maria del Carmen C. , López‐Cavanillas M. , Bartolome M. , Gomez de la Concha E. , Urcelay E. , Arroyo R. 
Published: July 2009

Background and purpose:  In a previous report, a strong gene–environment interaction between human herpesvirus 6A (HHV6A) active replication and MHC2TA rs4774C was demonstrated. The objectives of this study were: (i) to reappraise the association that was found in the previous study; (ii) to evaluate if MS patients with minor allele C and HHV‐6A active infection had different clinical behavior; and (iii) to analyze the possible association of MHC2TA rs4774C with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV).Methods:  A total of 149 MS patients were analyzed both at the MHC2TA locus and by HHV‐6A status in serum. We studied a G/C polymorphism (rs4774) by a TaqMan Assay‐on‐Demand. HHV‐6A genomes in serum were evaluated by quantitative PCR. A control group of 562 healthy Spanish individuals was included for comparative purposes in the genetic analyses. A battery of clinical data was collected for all the MS patients included in the study.Results:  (i) MHC2TA/HHV‐6A interaction: we found the same strong association of the rs4774C allele with HHV‐6A active replication than in the previous study (P = 0.0001). (ii) Clinical data: the two main statistical significant differences for MS patients with HHV‐6A active infection and minor allele C were: (a) a significant number of them were not free of progression (EDSS = 0) 2 years after the diagnosis (P = 0.01); (b) only a third of them responded to interferon beta treatment (P = 0.05).Conclusions:  This study has verified previous results about the strong gene–environment interaction between HHV6A active replication and MHC2TA rs4774C. Furthermore, a different clinical behavior for MS patients with HHV‐6A active infection and minor allele C was found.
A Model for building a Co‐operative World
Authors: Jelden Helmut 
Published: July 2009

In November, 1977, a seminar was held in Caracas, the Capital of Venezuela. It was organized by the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM), in which representatives of 17 Latin American countries and observers from Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and the United States of America participated and which dealt with this ‘theme of the future’.A number of resolutions adopted by the Seminar originated from an address delivered by the author. This address was generally considered to open new perspectives.The Seminar in Caracas followed a similar one held the year before in San José. In this seminar the foundations were laid for a new form of personal co‐operation between Europe and Latin America.
Do rivers function as genetic barriers for the plateau wood frog at high elevations?
Authors: Zhao S. , Dai Q. , Fu J. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractUsing the plateau wood frog Rana kukunoris from the Hengduan Mountains as a model system, we tested whether rivers form significant genetic barriers (the riverine barrier hypothesis) to high elevation amphibians. Samples were collected from eight sites across three major river drainages, the Min, the Dadu and the Yalong Rivers, and the population genetic structure of these frogs was evaluated with data from eight microsatellite DNA loci. A large amount of genetic structure was found, and the pairwise FST ranged from 0.022 to 0.508 and a global FST was 0.215. Both analysis of molecular variance and isolation by distance analysis suggested that rivers, mountain ridges and geographic distances all contributed significantly to the population structure. However, no single landscape has prominent barrier effect to the plateau wood frog populations. An assignment analysis using the computer program Structure grouped the eight populations into four population clusters, and no single type of landscape can sufficiently explain the clustering. In conclusion, rivers do not appear to be the leading genetic barriers for the plateau wood frog. The strong population genetic structure is likely the consequence of attributes of the species, as opposed to environmental fragmentation, and the barrier effect of the landscapes is largely swamped by the large amount of intrinsic population structure.
Parsing the componential structure of post‐error ERPs: A principal component analysis of ERPs following errors
Authors: Arbel Yael , Donchin Emanuel 
Published: July 2009

AbstractWe report the results of two experiments designed to clarify the spatial and temporal characteristics of the positive deflection that follows the error related negativity (ERN) elicited to incorrect responses in speeded reaction time tasks. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicates that the positive deflection reported to follow the ERN is composed of two different components: (a) a fronto‐cental positive deflection that follows the ERN and shares its spatial distribution and (b) a P300. When accuracy was required of the participants, the ERN and the P300 were larger in amplitude than when speed and accuracy were equally weighted. On the other hand, the amplitude of the fronto‐central positive component was not affected by the degree to which accuracy was stressed.