bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Normal thiopurine methyltransferase phenotype testing in a Crohn disease patient with azathioprine induced myelosuppression
Authors: Leung M. , Piatkov I. , Rochester C. , Boyages S. C. , Leong R. W. L. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractSevere cytopenias in patients with autoimmune conditions treated with azathioprine are well‐recognized. Thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) enzymatic activity is subject to individual and ethnic variability. Patients with low TPMT activity (poor metabolizers) are at high risk of developing severe and potentially fatal haematopoietic toxicity. Studies have shown that essentially all TPMT‐deficient patients will develop haematopoietic toxicity on administration of conventional thiopurine dosages (6‐mercaptopurine, azathioprine). Therefore, screening for TPMT polymorphisms in patients before prescribing thiopurine drugs has been proposed. However, despite normalin vitroenzymatic activity, cytopenia may still occurin vivo. This is the case report of an Asian patient with Crohn disease harbouring a rare TPMT mutation on DNA sequencing, who developed neutropenic sepsis and anaemia after a flare of Crohn disease. The report illustrates the importance of monitoring for cytopenia in the setting of active inflammatory disease despite prior normal phenotyping, the role of predictive pharmacogenetics and the limitations of TPMT phenotype assays that may result in misclassification of at‐risk patients.
Effects of cholinesterase inhibition in supraspinal and spinal neural pathways on the micturition reflex in rats
Authors: Masuda Hitoshi , Chancellor Michel B. , Kihara Kazunori , Sakai Yasuyuki , Koga Fumitaka , Azuma Hiroshi , De Groat William C. , Yoshimura Naoki 
Published: March 2009

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether activation of brain and spinal cholinergic pathways affects the micturition reflex in rats.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) or intrathecal (i.t.) administration of neostigmine as a cholinesterase inhibitor and oxotremorine‐M (OXO‐M) as a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChRs) agonist, on the micturition reflex were evaluated by infusion cystometrography (CMG) in urethane‐anaesthetized untreated rats or rats pretreated with capsaicin.RESULTSNeostigmine injected i.c.v. increased bladder capacity (BC) and pressure threshold (PT) dose‐dependently, with an increase in maximum voiding pressure (MVP) and a decrease in voiding efficiency (VE) at higher doses. Also, neostigmine injected i.t. increased the BC and PT dose‐dependently without changing MVP or VE, and these effects were not apparent in capsaicin‐pretreated rats. In both routes, atropine as an antagonist of mAChRs, but not mecamylamine as a nicotinic‐AChR antagonist, almost completely antagonized the effects of neostigmine. The rank order of potencies of the antagonists for increasing effects of BC induced by 1 nmol of neostigmine was: pirenzepine (an M1mAChR antagonist) = atropine > 4‐DAMP (an M3mAChR antagonist) >> methoctramine (an M2mAChR antagonist) and tropicamide (an M4mAChR antagonist) via the i.c.v. route; and atropine > methoctramine > pirenzepine > tropicamide and 4‐DAMP via the i.t. route, respectively. OXO‐M injected via i.c.v. and i.t. had the same effects on BC, PT, MVP and VE as neostigmine by i.c.v. and i.t., respectively.CONCLUSIONSThese results indicate that activation of muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms by the cholinesterase inhibitor in the brain and spinal cord can inhibit the micturition reflex, mainly by affecting afferent pathways. These mAChR‐induced inhibitory effects seem to be mediated through M1/M3receptor subtypes in the brain, while in the spinal cord, the M1/M2receptor subtypes might be involved in inhibitory effects, which are mediated via inhibition of mechanoceptive C‐fibre afferent pathways.
GRN 3′UTR+78 C>T is not associated with risk for Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Jasinska‐Myga B. , Wider C. , Opala G. , Krygowska‐Wajs A. , Barcikowska M. , Czyzewski K. , Baker M. , Rademakers R. , Uitti R. J. , Farrer M. J. , Ross O. A. , Wszolek Z. K. 
Published: March 2009

Background and purpose:  A single nucleotide polymorphism in the 3′‐untranslated region of the progranulin gene (GRN; 3′UTR+78C>T; rs5848) was reported to alter the risk for frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin‐positive inclusions (FTLD‐U). rs5848 is located within a micro‐RNA binding site and affects the expression of GRN.Methods:  As FTLD‐U patients often present with parkinsonism, we investigated the association of GRN rs5848 and risk of Parkinson’s disease in two Caucasian patient–control series (n = 1413) from the US and Poland.Results:  No association was observed between rs5848 and susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease (individual series and combined analysis).Conclusions:  This finding shows that GRN rs5848 does not affect the risk of Parkinson’s disease in the US and Polish populations.
Epidemiology of ALS in Padova district, Italy, from 1992 to 2005
Authors: Cima V. , Logroscino G. , D’Ascenzo C. , Palmieri A. , Volpe M. , Briani C. , Pegoraro E. , Angelini C. , Soraru G. 
Published: March 2009

Background and purpose:  Several studies have reported an increase in ALS incidence in recent years but population‐based studies in Europe do not confirm this trend. To analyze ALS incidence over time we conducted a retrospective incidence study in the Padova district of Italy (1992 to 2005). We had previously conducted a survey in the same area in the years 1980–1991.Methods:  We used the archives of all the neurological wards of the Padova district to identify all subjects with a discharge diagnosis of ALS or motor neuron disease and resident in the Padova district.Results:  We ascertained 182 patients (85 males and 97 females; male:female ratio 0.88:1) over the 14‐year study period. The annual incidence rates adjusted by sex and age increased from 1.31/100000/year in the years 1992–1994 to 1.92/100000/year in the years 2004–2005.Conclusions:  This study confirmed an ALS incidence increase over the last 25 years in the Padova district. The increase in incidence may be partially explained by the ageing of the general population rather than by an improved diagnostic assessment.
Shame and guilt in preschool depression: evidence for elevations in self‐conscious emotions in depression as early as age 3
Authors: Luby Joan , Belden Andy , Sullivan Jill , Hayen Robin , McCadney Amber , Spitznagel Ed 
Published: March 2009

Background: Empirical findings from two divergent bodies of literature illustrate that depression can arise in the preschool period and that the complex self‐conscious emotions of guilt and shame may develop normatively as early as age 3. Despite these related findings, few studies have examined whether the emotions of shame and guilt are salient in early childhood depression. This is important to further understand the emotional characteristics of preschool depression. Based on the hypothesis that preschool depression would be uniquely associated with higher levels of shame and maladaptive guilt, these emotions were investigated in a sample that included depressed, anxious, and disruptive disordered preschoolers as well as healthy peers using multiple methods.Method: Structured psychiatric diagnoses were derived in a sample ofN= 305 preschoolers ascertained from community sites. Preschoolers’ tendency to experience shame and guilt were explored using a story stem completion task coded by raters blind to symptoms and diagnosis of the subjects. Guilt experience and reparation behaviors were also measured using parent report.Results: Based on preschooler’s emotion themes during the narrative tasks, gender, age, and depression severity predicted unique and significant portions of the variance in preschoolers’ expressions of shame. Parent report measures revealed that increasing depression severity was associated with children’s more frequent experiences of guilt feelings and less frequent attempts at guilt reparation (maladaptive guilt).Conclusions: Findings demonstrated that high levels of shame and maladaptive guilt were related to preschool onset depression when using observational measures of children’s internal representations of their self‐conscious emotions as well as parent report. These findings demonstrate continuity of these core emotions of depression as early as age 3. These findings suggest that guilt and shame should be explored in clinical assessments of young children and may be an important focus for future studies of the developmental psychopathology of depression.
Membrane array–based differential profiling of platelets during storage for 52 miRNAs associated with apoptosis
Authors: Kannan Meganathan , Mohan Ketha V. Krishna , Kulkarni Sandhya , Atreya Chintamani 
Published: March 2009

BACKGROUND: Enucleated platelets (PLTs) utilize posttranscriptional gene (mRNA) regulation (PTGR) for their normal morphologic and physiologic functions, which are altered in their ex vivo storage, also collectively referred to as storage lesions. While cellular micro‐RNAs (miRNAs) play a significant role in posttranscriptional gene (mRNA) regulation by binding to their target mRNAs, comprehensive analysis of apoptosis‐associated miRNAs and global changes in their profiles during PLT storage have not been evaluated to date.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In this report room temperature–stored PLTs of Days 0, 2, and 9 were analyzed by differential profiling for 52 apoptosis‐associated human miRNAs. After total RNA extraction from the samples, a membrane array–based miRNA analysis was carried out. Prediction of target genes was performed by bioinformatics‐based approaches.RESULTS: Our analysis revealed that during storage, Let‐7a, ‐7c, ‐7e, ‐7f, ‐7g, and ‐7i miRNA profiles of the PLTs were barely detectable, while levels of miR‐150, ‐151, ‐152, ‐184, ‐188, ‐196a, ‐197, and ‐202 remained at high levels in PLTs. The rest of the miRNA levels were in between. However, two miRNAs, Let‐7b and miR‐16, distinctly demonstrated an increasing trend while miR‐7 and miR‐145 showed a decreasing profile during PLT storage. For these four miRNAs, we also identified their potential target mRNAs.CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results confirm the fact that miRNAs do exist in PLTs, and among 52 apoptosis‐specific miRNAs studied, only a few selected miRNAs did perturb during PLT storage. Future experimental evaluation of these miRNA–target mRNA interactions will provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of PLT storage–associated lesions.
Regulation of extracellular matrix genes by arecoline in primary gingival fibroblasts requires epithelial factors
Authors: Thangjam G. S. , Agarwal P. , Balapure A. K. , Girish Rao S. , Kondaiah P. 
Published: March 2009

Background and Objective:  Oral submucous fibrosis, a disease of collagen disorder, has been attributed to arecoline present in the saliva of betel quid chewers. However, the molecular basis of the action of arecoline in the pathogenesis of oral submucous fibrosis is poorly understood. The basic aim of our study was to elucidate the mechanism underlying the action of arecoline on the expression of genes in oral fibroblasts.Material and Methods:  Human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) and primary human gingival fibroblasts were treated with arecoline in combination with various pathway inhibitors, and the expression of transforming growth factor‐beta isoform genes and of collagen isoforms was assessed using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction analysis.Results:  We observed the induction of transforming growth factor‐beta2 by arecoline in HaCaT cells and this induction was found to be caused by activation of the M‐3 muscarinic acid receptor via the induction of calcium and the protein kinase C pathway. Most importantly, we showed that transforming growth factor‐beta2 was significantly overexpressed in oral submucous fibrosis tissues (p = 0.008), with a median of 2.13 (n = 21) compared with 0.75 (n = 18) in normal buccal mucosal tissues. Furthermore, arecoline down‐regulated the expression of collagens 1A1 and 3A1 in human primary gingival fibroblasts; however these collagens were induced by arecoline in the presence of spent medium of cultured human keratinocytes. Treatment with a transforming growth factor‐beta blocker, transforming growth factor‐beta1 latency‐associated peptide, reversed this up‐regulation of collagen, suggesting a role for profibrotic cytokines, such as transforming growth factor‐beta, in the induction of collagens.Conclusion: Taken together, our data highlight the importance of arecolineinduced epithelial changes in the pathogenesis of oral submucous fibrosis.
A Comparison of Three Different Attachment Systems for Mandibular Two‐Implant Overdentures: One‐Year Report
Authors: Kleis Wilfried K. , Kämmerer Peer W. , Hartmann Sinsa , Al‐Nawas Bilal , Wagner Wilfried 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTBackground: There is a lack of clinical studies on the self‐aligning attachment system (Locator®; Zest Anchors, Inc. homepage, Escondido, CA, USA) for two‐implant‐retained overdentures in the edentulous mandible. Therefore, a comparison of the Locator with two traditional designs (a rotational gold matrix and a rubber O‐ring type) in clinical 1‐year use was conducted.Materials and Methods: From 2003 to 2007, 60 patients received two Osseotite® TG Standard implants (BIOMET 3i Implant Innovations, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA) in the intraforaminal area of the edentulous mandible. The implants were left unloaded for 3.5 months, randomized to three different attachment systems, and loaded through a mandibular overdenture. Twenty‐three patients received a self‐aligning attachment system (Locator) and 33 patients a ball attachment (Dal‐Ro®[BIOMET 3i Implant Innovations]n = 25; TG‐O‐Ring®[Cendres & Metaux SA, Biel‐Bienne, Switzerland]n = 8). After 12 months of delivery of the overdentures, the oral situation was evaluated: prosthodontic maintenance and biologic complications, subjective patients' experience, and oral health‐related life quality (Oral Health Impact Profile [OHIP‐G 49]).Results: After 1‐year of clinical service, 8 of 120 implants were lost (9.6%). The Locator system brought up 34 prosthetic complications, especially the need for change of the male parts or activation because of loss of retention. The TG‐O‐Ring patients showed 14 complications, most of them the change of the O‐Rings. The patients with the Dal‐Ro abutment had seven minor complications in 12 months of clinical use. Biologic complications and patients' oral health‐related life quality showed no significant difference among the three experimental groups.Conclusions: Prosthodontic maintenance was restricted to loss of retention for all systems. Within the observation period of this study, the self‐aligning attachment system showed a higher rate of maintenance than the ball attachments. The patients' oral health‐related life qualities as well as the biologic parameters do not differ when using the three abutment systems.
Are There Enough Doctors in My Rural Community? Perceptions of the Local Physician Supply
Authors: Biola Holly , Pathman Donald E. 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACT:
Purpose: To assess whether people in the rural Southeast perceive that there is an adequate number of physicians in their communities, assess how these perceptions relate to county physician‐to‐population (PtP) ratios, and identify other factors associated with the perception that there are enough local physicians. Methods: Adults (n = 4,879) from 150 rural counties in eight southeastern states responded through a telephone survey. Agreement or disagreement with the statement “I feel there are enough doctors in my community” constituted the principal outcome. Weighted chi‐square analysis and a generalized estimating equation (GEE) assessed the strength of association between perceptions of an adequate physician workforce and county PtP ratios, individual characteristics, attitudes about and experiences with medical care, and other county characteristics. Findings: Forty‐nine percent of respondents agreed there were enough doctors in their communities, 46% did not agree, and 5% were undecided. Respondents of counties with higher PtP ratios were only somewhat more likely to agree that there were enough local doctors (Pearson's correlation coefficient = 0.09, P < .001). Multivariate analyses revealed that perceiving that there were enough local physicians was more common among men, those 65 and older, whites, and those with lower regard for physician care. Perceptions that the local physician supply was inadequate were more common for those who had longer travel distances, problems with affordability, and little confidence in their physicians. Perceptions of physician shortages were more common in counties with higher poverty rates. Conclusions: County PtP ratios only partially account for rural perceptions that there are or are not enough local physicians. Perceptions of an adequate local physician workforce are also related to how much people value physicians’ care and whether they face other barriers to care.
Real Women or Objects of Discourse? The Search for Early Christian Women
Authors: Cobb L. Stephanie 
Published: March 2009

AbstractScholarly interest in gender and sexuality in early Christianity, which has typically been tied to an interest in women and women's roles, experiences, and influences, is a relatively new addition to the study of early church history. Women and women's issues entered the academy through the women's movement of the 1970s. Early on this scholarship was driven, in part, by a political or theological agenda that sought to empower women of the twentieth century by reconstructing the lives of their foremothers. Often the early studies of women in the church were optimistic that real, historical women could be found within our sources. Soon, however, scholars became more suspicious of the male‐authored texts and turned, instead, to study the social effect of discourses about women. Many scholars, however, are not yet ready to give up investigations of ancient women's lives. Thus the field of early Christian studies is developing a variety of methodologies that offer sophisticated readings of ancient male‐authored texts while still acknowledging the inherent difficulties involved in reconstructing women's lives in early Christian history.
Spectroscopic Properties of Quercetin Derivatives,  Quercetin‐3‐O‐rhamnoside and Quercetin‐3‐O‐rutinoside, in  Hydro‐organic Mixed Solvents
Authors: Liu Hai‐Bo , Yu Daun , Shin Sung Chul , Park Hyoung‐Ryun , Park Jong Keun , Bark Ki‐Min 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe characteristic fluorescence properties of quercetin‐3‐O‐rhamnoside (QCRM) and quercetin‐3‐O‐rutinoside (QCRT) were studied in CH3OH–H2O and CH3CN–H2O mixed solvents. Although QCRM and QCRT are known as nonfluorescent molecules, significant fluorescence emissions were discovered at 360 nm in CH3OH and CH3CN when they were promoted to the second excited state. The emission band is broad and structureless and the intensity decreases quickly as the H2O composition in the solvent increases. When the amount of H2O exceeds 60% in both mixed solvents, this emission disappears due to the formation of the distorted excited state. This state will be formed due to the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the polar groups of solute and H2O. As the composition of CH3OH or CH3CN in solvent becomes large, the number of molecules having several intramolecular hydrogen bonding increases. Some of these molecules will be changed to a fluorescent species during the decay process, after excitation. The theoretical calculation further supports these results. The change of the lifetimes, quantum yields, and radiative and nonradiative rate constants of molecules was also examined as a function of solvatochromic parameters for CH3OH–H2O and CH3CN–H2O.
A fish bone embedded in the mobile tongue mimicking a neoplasm
Authors: Wang Yan , Li Wen 
Published: March 2009

AbstractForeign bodies embedded in a mobile tongue as an enlarged tongue mass are rarely presented to either a laryngologist or a dentist, because such bodies are commonly lodged superficially and are easily removed by the patients themselves or removed by a laryngologist by means of indirect laryngoscope or endoscope. We have described a 63‐year‐old female with an 8‐month history of an enlarged mass in the anterior right tongue. Physical examination demonstrated a mass located in the anterior right tongue without clear margin, with superficially intact mucosa and normal colour. A benign tongue neoplasm was first considered. However, a fish bone totally embedded in the mobile tongue with granuloma formation was encountered during the incisional biopsy operation. Complete removal of the foreign body with granuloma was achieved under general anaesthesia. There was no neuromuscular or neurosensory dysfunction of the tongue in the follow‐up period of 2 years. Although an embedded foreign body in the mobile tongue is a rare condition, it should be considered in the work‐up of a patient with an enlarged tongue mass, with or without a history of swallowing a foreign body.
Adjunctive Chemotherapeutic Suppression of Mutans Streptococci in the Setting of Severe Early Childhood Caries: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Berkowitz Robert J. , Koo Hyun , McDermott Michael P. , Whelehan Mary Therese , Ragusa Patricia , Kopycka‐Kedzierawski Dorota T. , Karp Jeffrey M. , Billings Ronald 
Published: March 2009

Abstract
Objectives: This investigational study assessed the suppressive effect of 10 percent povidone iodine (PI) coupled with elimination of active carious lesions on salivary mutans streptococci (MS) populations in children with severe early childhood caries (S‐ECC). Methods: 77 children (38 females, 39 males) were treated for S‐ ECC in one session; a 0.2 ml PI solution was applied to the dentition after dental surgery was completed and immediately wiped off. The subjects aged from 2 to 5 years (mean = 3.78 years) at baseline. Whole nonstimulated saliva samples were obtained at baseline, 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days post dental surgery. Samples were placed on ice and processed within 2 hours. The MS level in each sample was expressed as colony forming units (CFUs) per ml of saliva. Results: Approximately 50 percent of subjects had a >95 percent reduction in CFU/ml of saliva at each time point after baseline. The percentages of subjects with a >50 percent reduction in MS level were 85 percent at 30 days, 83 percent at 60 days, 84 percent at 90 days. The median (25th, 75th percentiles) CFUs/ml of saliva counts were 8.40 × 105 (1.49 × 105, 5.00 × 106) at baseline (n = 77), 4.12 × 104 (8.40 × 103, 1.89 × 105) at 30 days (n = 74), 4.62 × 104 (7.00 × 103, 1.36 × 105) at 60 days (n = 70), and 5.09 × 104 (1.16 × 104, 1.00 × 105) at 90 days (n = 70). The changes from baseline to 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days were statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: PI coupled with dental surgery has a significant suppressive effect on salivary MS levels in the setting of S‐ECC for at least 90 days. These data strongly suggest that treatment with PI may be an important adjunct to dental surgery for S‐ECC.