bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Regulation of increased glutamatergic input to spinal dorsal horn neurons by mGluR5 in diabetic neuropathic pain
Authors: Li Ji‐Qing , Chen Shao‐Rui , Chen Hong , Cai You‐Qing , Pan Hui‐Lin 
Published: October 2009

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 162–172.AbstractDiabetic neuropathic pain is associated with increased glutamatergic input in the spinal dorsal horn. Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are involved in the control of neuronal excitability, but their role in the regulation of synaptic transmission in diabetic neuropathy remains poorly understood. Here we studied the role of spinal mGluR5 and mGluR1 in controlling glutamatergic input in a rat model of painful diabetic neuropathy induced by streptozotocin. Whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings of lamina II neurons were performed in spinal cord slices. The amplitude of excitatory post‐synaptic currents (EPSCs) evoked from the dorsal root and the frequency of spontaneous EPSCs (sEPSCs) were significantly higher in diabetic than in control rats. The mGluR5 antagonist 2‐methyl‐6‐(phenylethynyl)‐pyridine (MPEP) inhibited evoked EPSCs and sEPSCs more in diabetic than in control rats. Also, the percentage of neurons in which sEPSCs and evoked EPSCs were affected by MPEP or the group I mGluR agonist was significantly higher in diabetic than in control rats. However, blocking mGluR1 had no significant effect on evoked EPSCs and sEPSCs in either groups. The mGluR5 protein level in the dorsal root ganglion, but not in the dorsal spinal cord, was significantly increased in diabetic rats compared with that in control rats. Furthermore, intrathecal administration of MPEP significantly increased the nociceptive pressure threshold only in diabetic rats. These findings suggest that increased mGluR5 expression on primary afferent neurons contributes to increased glutamatergic input to spinal dorsal horn neurons and nociceptive transmission in diabetic neuropathic pain.
The loop between β‐strands β2 and β3 and its interaction with the N‐terminal α‐helix is essential for biogenesis of α7 nicotinic receptors
Authors: Criado Manuel , Mulet José , Castillo Mar , Gerber Susana , Sala Salvador , Sala Francisco 
Published: October 2009

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 103–111.AbstractRecently, we have shown that the α‐helix present at the N‐termini of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors plays a crucial role in their biogenesis. Structural data suggest that this helix interacts with the loop linking β‐strands β2 and β3 (loop 3). We studied the role of this loop as well as its interaction with the helix in membrane receptor expression. Residues from Asp62 to Val75 in loop 3 were mutated. Mutations of conserved amino acids, such as Asp62, Leu65 and Trp67 abolished membrane receptor expression in Xenopus oocytes. Others mutations, at residues Asn68, Ala69, Ser70, Tyr72, Gly74, and Val 75 were less harmful although still produced significant expression decreases. Steady state levels of wild‐type and mutant α7 receptors (L65A, W67A, and Y72A) were similar but the formation of pentameric receptors was impaired in the latter (W67A). Mutation of critical residues in subunits of heteromeric nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α3β4) also abolished their membrane expression. Complementarity between the helix and loop 3 was evidenced by studying the expression of chimeric α7 receptors in which these domains were substituted by homologous sequences from other subunits. We conclude that loop 3 and its docking to the α‐helix is an important requirement for receptor assembly.
Not so old Archaea – the antiquity of biogeochemical processes in the archaeal domain of life
Authors: BLANK CARRINE E. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSince the archaeal domain of life was first recognized, it has often been assumed that Archaea are ancient, and harbor primitive traits. In fact, the names of the major archaeal lineages reflect our assumptions regarding the antiquity of their traits. Ancestral state reconstruction and relaxed molecular clock analyses using newly articulated oxygen age constraints show that although the archaeal domain itself is old, tracing back to the Archean eon, many clades and traits within the domain are not ancient or primitive. Indeed many clades and traits, particularly in the Euryarchaeota, were inferred to be Neoproterozoic or Phanerozoic in age. Both Eury‐ and Crenarchaeota show increasing metabolic and physiological diversity through time. Early archaeal microbial communities were likely limited to sulfur reduction and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, and were confined to high‐temperature geothermal environments. However, after the appearance of atmospheric oxygen, nodes containing a wide variety of traits (sulfate and thiosulfate reduction, sulfur oxidation, sulfide oxidation, aerobic respiration, nitrate reduction, mesophilic methanogenesis in sedimentary environments) appear, first in environments containing terrestrial Crenarchaeota in the Meso/Neoproterozoic followed by environments containing marine Euryarchaeota in the Neoproterozoic and Phanerozoic. This provides phylogenetic evidence for increasing complexity in the biogeochemical cycling of C, N, and S through geologic time, likely as a consequence of microbial evolution and the gradual oxygenation of various compartments within the biosphere. This work has implications not only for the large‐scale evolution of microbial communities and biogeochemical processes, but also for the interpretation of microbial biosignatures in the ancient rock record.
Has Pay‐for‐Performance Decreased Access for Minority Patients?
Authors: Ryan Andrew M. 
Published: October 2009

Objective. To examine whether the CMS and Premier Inc. Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (PHQID), a hospital‐based pay‐for‐performance (P4P) and public quality reporting program, caused participating hospitals (1) to avoid treating minority patients diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, and pneumonia and (2) to avoid providing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) to minority patients diagnosed with AMI.Data Sources. One hundred percent Medicare inpatient claims, denominator files, and provider of service files from 2000 to 2006.Study Design. We test for differences in the conditional probability of receiving care at PHQID hospitals for AMI, heart failure, and pneumonia before and after implementation of the PHQID between white and minority patients. We also test for differences in the conditional probability that white and minority patients diagnosed with AMI receive CABG in hospitals participating, and not participating, in the PHQID before and after the implementation of the PHQID.Data Extraction Methods. Data were obtained from CMS.Principal Findings. We find little evidence that the PHQID reduced access for minority patients: only “Other Race” beneficiaries had a significant reduction in adjusted admissions to PHQID hospitals in the postperiod, and only for AMI. Only marginally significant ( p<.10) evidence of a reduction in CABG was found, also occurring for Other Race beneficiaries.Conclusions. Despite minimal evidence of minority patient avoidance in the PHQID, monitoring of avoidance should continue for P4P programs.
Recent Research into the History of Early Shi'ism
Authors: Gleave Robert 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThis article examines some of the scholarship on early published in the last decade in English, French and German. Particular emphasis is paid to the emergence of the majority trend, its self‐definition and the development of doctrinal unity. Any social or political history of early will inevitably be partial as the division between these categories of analysis and the intellectual development of dogma and doctrine is somewhat artificial when considering early Islam. The emergence of a dogmatic orthodoxy is linked with both the production of a distinctive identity and the subsequent or Twelver tradition of thought.
Gender and Sexuality in the North American Borderlands, 1492–1848
Authors: Little Ann M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractBorderlands history has traditionally been dominated by the masculine concerns of warfare, politics, and diplomacy, but in the past two decades, women’s and gender historians have produced studies that reveal that gender and sexuality were central to all colonial North American borderlands encounters among and between Native Americans and Europeans. This new scholarship argues not just for the importance of women in borderlands societies, but for the importance of looking at gender identities, work roles, and sexual and marriage practices, and the role all of these things played in intercultural contact and conflict. Scholars interested in gender and sexuality should take a broadly comparative approach in this field, because of the striking similarities as well as important differences that emerge with a continental perspective.
Transportation, Communication, and the Movement of Peoples in the Frankish Kingdom, ca. 500–900 C.E
Authors: Halfond Gregory I. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractAs historians and archeologists continue to debate the volume of commercial traffic in Western Europe following the disappearance of Roman imperial rule, it has become increasingly clear that an infrastructure of transportation and communication continued to facilitate travel and the movement of people in this period. This is particularly apparent in the Frankish Kingdom between the sixth and tenth centuries. Relying to a substantial degree on technology and routes inherited from the Roman past, the Franks employed this communication infrastructure for purposes dictated by entirely contemporary concerns. Recent scholarship has demonstrated conclusively that commerce was far from the only motivation for travel in the Frankish Kingdom, and that the diversity of means and motives for communication is indicative of a mobile society.
Immunomonitoring of graft‐versus‐host minor histocompatibility antigen correlates with graft‐versus‐host disease and absence of relapse after graft
Authors: Laurin David , Hannani Dalil , Pernollet Martine , Moine Agnès , Plumas Joël , Bensa Jean‐Claude , Cahn Jean‐Yves , Garban Frédéric 
Published: October 2009

BACKGROUND: After HLA‐identical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, minor histocompatibility (mH) antigen alloreactivity plays a dominant role in the development of graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) and graft versus leukemia (GVL).STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We have analyzed the mH alloreactivity (enzyme‐linked immunospot [ELISpot] for interferon‐γ[IFN‐γ] assay) from 24 donor/recipient pairs over a period of 2 years of follow‐up and correlated such alloreactivity with the development of GVHD or absence of relapse. Circulating specific T cells anti‐mH with multimer HLA‐peptides were also studied.RESULTS: We show by ELISpot IFN‐γ assay that alloreactivity during the first 3 months from donor versus recipient or donor versus mismatched identified mH antigens is associated with acute GVHD and GVL effect. In addition, we demonstrate that the donor‐versus‐recipient reactivity observed after the third month is highly associated with chronic GVHD and GVL (p = 0.0007). Finally, we show by multimer HLA‐peptide assay that mH epitope‐specific T cells present after 3 months are statistically related to the GVL effect.CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide a robust method to monitor mH antigen graft‐versus‐host reaction and suggest that current identified mH have predictive value on GVHD and GVL.
Plasma and cryoprecipitate manufactured from whole blood held overnight at room temperature meet quality standards
Authors: Serrano Katherine , Scammell Ken , Weiss Sandra , Culibrk Brankica , Levin Elena , Gyöngyössy‐Issa Maria , Devine Dana V. 
Published: October 2009

BACKGROUND: With buffy coat (BC) processing of whole blood (WB) donations, the preparation of plasma occurs within 24 hours rather than 8 hours of collection. The effect of this change on coagulation factor function in plasma and cryoprecipitate was evaluated during the validation of this production method and with routine production.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Plasma frozen after an overnight hold of WB was prepared via BC or whole blood filtration (WBF) methods and quality control (QC) variables were measured. Additionally, plasma prepared with the BC method was compared to plasma produced using the platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) method with an extended plasma factor analysis. Selected plasma factor levels were also measured in both cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant plasma prepared using the WBF method from plasma frozen on the day of collection or after an overnight hold of WB.RESULTS: When comparing BC plasma to PRP plasma, coagulation factors (F)II, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI had somewhat lower levels, and fibrinogen and antithrombin levels were elevated. As expected the most sensitive to the prolongation of production time was FVIII with 72 and 78% of the activity of PRP plasma and cryoprecipitate, respectively. However, both still met QC standards. Similarly, products made in routine production show acceptable levels of FVIII.CONCLUSION: Plasma and cryoprecipitate products, prepared using methods in which the plasma is frozen close to 24 hours after collection, meet current quality standards. The longer WB storage time has been implemented into general use in Canada.
Relative safety of first‐time volunteer and replacement donors in West Africa
Authors: Allain Jean‐Pierre , Sarkodie Francis , Asenso‐Mensah Kwame , Owusu‐Ofori Shirley 
Published: October 2009

BACKGROUND: A significantly higher level of safety between nonremunerated volunteer and replacement donor blood is assumed. This is supported by global data without stratifying between genuine replacement and paid donors, for first‐time or repeat volunteer, or according to age.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In 2008, first‐time volunteer and replacement donors were identified, and confirmed human immunodeficiency virus antibody (anti‐HIV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and hepatitis C virus antibody (anti‐HCV)‐positive screening results were collated. Data were analyzed according to age and sex between the two types of donors.RESULTS: In 6640 first‐time volunteer and 4360 replacement donors, the prevalence of anti‐HIV and HBsAg (1.03 and 13.8% vs. 1.1 and 14.9%, respectively) was not significantly different. Anti‐HIV prevalence was higher in replacement donors less than age 20 than in first‐time volunteers; the difference was not significant. HBsAg and anti‐HIV confirmed‐positive prevalence was significantly higher in first‐time volunteer donors over age 20.CONCLUSION: In Kumasi, Ghana, viral safety of replacement and first‐time volunteer donors was similar, constituting a single population of donors. Safety increment is provided by repeat donation applicable to either group, through different approaches. A blood unit from replacement donor costs half or less than that from a volunteer donor; similar studies conducted elsewhere in sub‐Saharan Africa may lead to changes in current strategies.
Identity and Government Funding in Christian Nonprofits*
Authors: Scheitle Christopher P. 
Published: October 2009

Objectives. This article aims to understand if and how the expressed religious identity of Christian nonprofit organizations varies between those receiving and not receiving government funding and whether there is evidence that government funding produces such differences.Methods. I utilize a content analysis of narratives provided on tax forms of 1,900 of the largest national and international Christian nonprofits based in the United States.Results. Christian nonprofits receiving government funding are less likely to express a religious identity and tend to use more inclusive language when doing so. However, receiving government funding does not seem to be the direct cause of changes in expressed religious identity.Conclusions. Differences in expressed religious identity might better be understood as the result of long‐term changes that both alter the organization's identity and makes it more likely to acquire government funding.
Politics, Pragmatism, and Departures from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1954–2004*
Authors: Vining Richard L. 
Published: October 2009

Objective. This article uses Cox proportional hazards models to explain departures from the U.S. Courts of Appeals from 1954–2004. I argue that reforms to pension eligibility and financial incentives in 1984 extended opportunities for voluntary departures and strategic behavior, and that reasons for quitting (whether political, personal, or institutional) differed among types of departures and over time.Methods. The data represent all judge‐years from 1954–2004. Both the full period and 1954–1983 and 1984–2004 subperiods are examined.Results. The effects of political factors are limited to partial retirements and suggest judges' recognition of contentious confirmation politics since the 1980s. Personal and institutional variables dominate outright departures.Conclusions. Explanations for departures from the circuit bench differ both by type and over time. Scholars and policymakers should refine arguments regarding judicial turnover and its causes.
Asian‐Pacific‐American Partisanship: Dynamics of Partisan and Nonpartisan Identities*
Authors: Phan Ngoc , Garcia John A. 
Published: October 2009

Objectives. This article seeks to understand the development of partisanship among Asian Americans since a significant portion do not choose either major party affiliation, but select an independent or a truly nonpartisan status. With a rapidly growing Asian‐American population, examining its pattern for both partisan and nonpartisan identification has been ignored. This research took a developmental process in which acquisition of any partisan affiliation/identification is a critical juncture for Asian‐American political incorporation. Therefore, considering contributing factors that affect the acquisition of any partisan affiliation as a precursor to specific Asian‐American partisan affiliation/behaviors is our direction.Methods. Using a logistical regression model and data from the Pilot National Asian American Political Survey, a category of variables, including sociodemographic, Asian‐American subgroup status, U.S. political orientations and attitudes, and experiences with U.S. society, are used to understand a partisan and nonpartisan affiliation.Results. This study reveals that aspects of socioeconomic status, political attitudes, and immigrant experiences are important, in varying degrees (especially Asian subgroup status) to understand partisan acquisition for Asian Americans. More so, Asian‐American subgroups, persons with lower educational and income levels, and participants in the labor force are less likely to assume a partisan affiliation. Levels of interest in U.S. politics and length of time in the United States do contribute to a partisan affiliation.Conclusions. Viewing partisan affiliation as a developmental process is an important research avenue to approach the Asian‐American community. The inclusion of not only sociodemographic variables, but experiences and evaluation of the U.S. political system, as well as recognizing the political “culture” of Asian‐American subgroups, provides a more complete understanding of the partisan acquisition process.
The Link Between Voter Choice and Religious Identity in Contemporary Society: Bringing Classical Theory Back In*
Authors: Hirschl Thomas A. , Booth James G. , Glenna Leland L. 
Published: October 2009

Objectives. In this article, we analyze voter choice data from six U.S. presidential elections for evidence of religious identity and sociodemographic effects on voter choice.Methods. Voter choice is analyzed over the period 1980 to 2000 with multivariate statistical models.Results. A link is found between voter choice and religious identity, where the effect of religious identity on voter choice is contingent on location within the stratification order defined by race, class, and gender. The article proposes a theory to explain the contingent link between voter choice and religious identity; the theory is derived from classical sociology.Conclusion. In the United States, political behavior related to religious identity is contingent on the individual's location within the stratification order.
The Cost of Parenthood: Unraveling the Effects of Sexual Orientation and Gender on Income*
Authors: Baumle Amanda K. 
Published: October 2009

Objectives. Prior research has repeatedly shown that parenthood affects employment outcomes; mothers have, on average, lower wages and are less likely to be hired than childless women. Some research indicates that this effect of parenthood on employment outcomes is dependent on sexual orientation. In particular, lesbian mothers might be treated more like childless women by those making employment decisions. This article examines the degree to which the lesbian wage advantage can be explained by lesbians avoiding the motherhood wage penalty experienced by heterosexual women.Methods. Drawing on 2000 U.S. Census data, this issue is first explored via ordinary least squares regression equations that estimate the effect of having a child present in the household on income. The Blinder‐Oaxaca method is then employed to decompose the earnings differential between heterosexual and gay individuals.Results. Results indicate that lesbians appear to experience a motherhood advantage that increases their wages by approximately 20 percent. Further, results support the notion that lesbians receive different returns to the presence of children in the household than do heterosexual women. Approximately 35 percent of the wage differential between lesbians and heterosexual women is attributable to differences in returns to child rearing.Conclusion. These findings have relevance for state and federal anti‐discrimination laws and work/family policies, as they provide further insight into the role that gender, and gender‐based assumptions, play in determining employment outcomes.
Adolescent Weight and Depressive Symptoms: For Whom is Weight a Burden?*
Authors: Frisco Michelle L. , Houle Jason N. , Martin Molly A. 
Published: October 2009

Objective. Adolescent weight and depressive symptoms are serious population health concerns in their own right and as they relate to each other. This study asks whether relationships between weight and depressive symptoms vary by sex and race/ethnicity because both shape experiences of weight and psychological distress.Methods. Results are based on multivariate analyses of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data.Results. There are no associations between adolescent girls' weight and depressive symptoms, but these associations vary considerably among boys. Underweight is associated with depressive symptoms among all boys and subpopulations of white and Hispanic boys. Among Hispanic boys, those who are overweight (vs. normal weight) have a lower probability of reporting depressive symptoms. Finally, among normal weight boys, Hispanics and blacks are more likely to report depressive symptoms than whites.Conclusions. Findings are a reminder that understanding population health issues sometimes requires a focus on subpopulations, not simply the population as a whole.