bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
CMV promotor activity during ES cell differentiation: Potential insight into embryonic stem cell differentiation
Authors: Bagchi Bandita , Kumar Manoj , Mani Shyamala 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe activity of the PCMV IE promoter was studied during the differentiation of ES cells into neurons. In order to do this, stable embryonic stem (ES) cell lines that express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of PCMV IE were created and these ES cells were differentiated by aggregation of cells in the presence of retinoic acid (RA). Based on our observations that the activity of PCMV IE was highest in undifferentiated cells, and that cell—cell interaction and addition of RA that lead to enhanced cell proliferation also increased expression from PCMV IE, we hypothesized that the activity of PCMV IE was positively regulated in cycling cells. However, when analysis was done at the single cell level it was found that BrdU label and EGFP expression were not correlated. EGFP expression was found to be down‐regulated in many cells that were BrdU positive and conversely there were significant numbers of BrdU negative cells that were EGFP positive. Further, PCMV IE activity was not observed in cells that were nestin positive or in differentiated neurons, but PCMV IE was active in cells with a fibroblast‐like morphology. Finally, several proteins present in undifferentiated ES cells were found to bind to regulatory regions of PCMV IE. These were absent when cells were aggregated in the presence of RA. The above results have implications for expression of transgenes in ES cells as well as providing new insight into the mechanism of lineage restriction.
Human autologous serum obtained using a completely closed bag system as a substitute for foetal calf serum in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures
Authors: Mizuno Noriyoshi , Shiba Hideki , Ozeki Yoshitaka , Mouri Yoshihiro , Niitani Miyuki , Inui Takafumi , Hayashi Hideaki , Suzuki Koji , Tanaka Seishin , Kawaguchi Hiroyuki , Kurihara Hidemi 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe major problem in cell therapy is the possibility of viral or bacterial infection and immune reactions. Therefore, it is expected of culture cells which are intended to be re‐implanted with autologous serum rather than conventional bovine serum. Cell therapy with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC), differentiating to various cells, is thought to be curative. To culture hMSC with human autologous serum (HAS) and re‐implant them for cell therapy, we developed a completely closed bag system separating serum, comparing proliferation and multipotency of hMSC cultured in HAS with those in foetal calf serum (FCS). HAS was simply, safely and efficiently obtained with the developed closed bag system. Cell proliferation of hMSC cultured in HAS was greater than that in FCS. hMSC, exposed to the defined induction medium containing HAS as well as FCS, differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes. These findings suggest that HAS obtained with the developed closed bag system is advantageous in a point of decrease in risk of virus or bacterial infection and foreign protein contamination and enhancement of proliferation of hMSC.
Myocardial dysfunction with increased ventricular compliance in volume overload hypertrophy
Authors: De Stefano Laercio Martins , Matsubara Luiz Shiguero , Matsubara Beatriz Bojikian 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe aim this study was to evaluate systolic and diastolic function in volume overload induced myocardial hypertrophy in rats.Volume overload myocardial hypertrophy was induced in thirteen male Wistar rats by creating infrarenal arteriovenous fistula (AVF). The results were compared with a SHAM operated group (n = 11). Eight weeks after surgery, tail‐cuff blood pressure was recorded, then rats were sacrificed for isolated heart studies using Langendorff's preparation.AVF rats presented increased left and right ventricular weights, compared to controls. The increased normalized ventricular volume (V0/LVW, 0.141 ± 0.035 mL/g vs. 0.267±0.071 mL/g, P <0.001) in the AVF group indicated chamber dilation. Myocardial hydroxyproline concentration remained unchanged. There was a significant decrease in +dP/dt (3318±352 mm Hg s−1 vs. 2769±399 mm Hg s −1; P=0,002), end‐systolic pressure‐volume relation (246±56 mm Hg mL−1 vs. 114±63 mm Hg mL−1; P<0,001), and −dP/dt (1746±240 mm Hg s −1 vs. 1361±217 mm Hg s −1 P<0.001) in the AVF group, which presented increased ventricular compliance (ΔV25: SHAM=0.172±0.05 mL vs. AVF=0.321±0.072 mL, P<0.001) with preserved myocardial passive stiffness (Strain25: SHAM=13.5±3.0% vs. AVF=12.3+1.9%, P>0.05).We conclude that volume‐overload induced hypertrophy causes myocardial systolic and diastolic dysfunction with increased ventricular compliance. These haemodynamic features help to explain the long‐term compensatory phase of chronic volume overload before transition to overt congestive heart failure.
Effect of socioeconomic deprivation on the population risk of incident heart failure hospitalisation: An analysis of the Renfrew/Paisley Study
Authors: Stewart S. , Murphy N.F. , McMurray J.J.V. , Jhund P. , Hart C.L. , Hole D. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractBackgroundThere are few data describing the effect of socioeconomic deprivation on the risk of developing heart failure (HF).AimsTo examine the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and hospitalisation with HF over 20 years.MethodsBetween 1972 and 1976, 15,402 individuals, aged 45–64 years, residing in two towns in Scotland, underwent cardiovascular screening. We report hospitalisations with HF over the subsequent 20 years according to Carstairs deprivation category and Social Class.ResultsFollowing screening, 628 men and women (4.1%) were hospitalised with a primary diagnosis of HF. There was a gradient in the risk of HF hospitalisation with increasing socioeconomic deprivation (P=0.003). Of the most deprived individuals, 6.4% were hospitalised for HF compared to 3.5% of the most affluent group. Cox‐proportional Hazard models showed that independent of age, sex and baseline risk factors for cardio‐respiratory status, greater socioeconomic deprivation increased the risk of HF admission (P=0.001, overall). The adjusted risk of admission for HF was 39% greater in the most versus least deprived subjects (RR 1.39 95% CI 1.04–2.01; P=0.04).ConclusionThese data show a link between social deprivation and the risk of developing HF, irrespective of baseline cardio‐respiratory status and cardiovascular risk factors.
Effects of home‐based exercise training on neurovascular control in patients with heart failure
Authors: de Mello Franco Fábio Gazelato , Santos Amilton C. , Rondon Maria Urbana P. , Trombetta Ivani C. , Strunz Célia , Braga Ana Maria W. , Middlekauff Holly , Negrão Carlos E. , Barretto Antônio C. Pereira 
Published: March 2006

AbstractBackgroundThe effect of home‐based exercise training on neurovascular control in heart failure patients is unknown.AimsTo test the hypothesis that home‐based training would maintain the reduction in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and forearm vascular resistance (FVR) acquired after supervised training.Methods and resultsTwenty‐nine patients (54±1.9 years, EF<40%) were randomised into two groups: untrained control (n=12) and exercise trained (n=17). Both groups underwent assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), MSNA, and forearm blood flow. The exercise group underwent a 4‐month supervised training program followed by 4 months of home‐based training. After the initial 4 months of training, patients in the exercise group showed a significant increase in peak VO2 and reduction in MSNA, compared to the untrained group, but this was not maintained during 4 months of home‐based training. In contrast, the decrease in FVR (56±3 vs. 46±4 vs. 40±2 U, p=0.008) and the improvement in QOL that were achieved during supervised training were maintained during home‐based training.ConclusionsHome‐based training following supervised training is a safe strategy to maintain improvements in QoL and reduction in FVR in chronic heart failure patients, but is an inadequate strategy to maintain fitness as estimated by peak VO2 or reduction in neurohumoral activation.
Testing for international equity market integration using regime switching cointegration techniques
Authors: Davies Andrew 
Published: March 2006

AbstractUsing MSCI total return index data, this paper analyses the degree of international equity market integration using modern cointegration techniques. The existence of a long run equilibrium across equity markets is important since it implies a violation of weak form market efficiency. Short run deviations away from equilibrium can be expected to reverse, thereby implying a degree of market predictability. This analysis adds to the existing literature by considering a regime switching cointegration relationship that allows for multiple structural breaks over time. The analysis provides scant evidence in favour of market integration with a single regime treatment. There is, however, significant evidence to support a two‐regime Markov switching long‐run equilibrium relationship that has evolved since the 1970s.
Asymmetric adjustment in the prime lending–deposit rate spread
Authors: Thompson Mark A. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe hypothesis that bank lending rates adjust differently to rising versus declining market rates is empirically examined. This study applies threshold autoregressive and momentum threshold autoregressive models developed by Enders & Granger [Enders, W. & Granger, C. (1998). Unit root tests and asymmetric adjustment with an example using the term structure of interest rates.Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 16, 304–311] and Enders and Siklos [Enders, W. & Siklos, P. (2001). Cointegration and threshold adjustment.Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 19, 166–176] to the prime lending–deposit rate spread. Within the context of these models, this paper provides evidence of asymmetric adjustment in the spread.
STATUS OF WOMEN IN TWO BENGALS: EVIDENCE FROM LARGE SCALE SURVEYS
Authors: CHATTOPADHYAY APARAJITA , GOSWAMI BAISHALI 
Published: March 2006

Summary.Greater female autonomy is mirrored through better performance in the major demographic and social indicators. This study attempts to capture the effect of religion on the status of women considering ‘Greater Bengal’. There is much evidence suggesting that when cultural factors are constant, religion does not have a significant effect on any demographic issue. In this paper, the validity of this proposition is examined using two datasets, namely NFHS II (98–99) and BDHS 2000. It is clear from the analyses that not only region but also religion has a distinct effect on the status of women. In West Bengal, the religious gap for all the indicators considered is pretty high, whereas in Bangladesh the gap is not that wide. A state-level population policy is needed in West Bengal to act as a social leveller.
Magnetohydrodynamic wave mixing in shear flows: Hamiltonian equations and wave action
Authors: WEBB G. M. , KAGHASHVILI E. Kh. , ZANK G. P. 
Published: March 2006

Abstract.Magnetohydrodynamic wave interactions in a linear shear flow are investigated using the Lagrangian fluid displacement ξ and entropy perturbation Δ S, in which a spatial Fourier solution is obtained in the frame of the background shear flow (Kelvin's method). The equations reduce to three coupled oscillator equations, with time-dependent coefficients and with source terms proportional to the entropy perturbation. In the absence of entropy perturbations, the system admits a wave action conservation integral consisting of positive and negative energy waves. Variational and Hamiltonian forms of the equations are obtained. Examples of wave amplification phenomena and sharp resonant-type wave interactions are obtained. Implications for the interaction of magnetohydrodynamic waves in the shear flow between fast, polar coronal-hole solar wind and slow, streamer belt solar wind are discussed.
The prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder: a population-based survey
Authors: RIEF WINFRIED , BUHLMANN ULRIKE , WILHELM SABINE , BORKENHAGEN ADA , BRÄHLER ELMAR 
Published: March 2006

Background. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a highly distressing and impairing disorder characterized by a preoccupation with imagined or slight physical defects in appearance. Well designed studies on its prevalence and on base rates for diagnostic criteria are rare. Therefore this study aimed to reveal prevalence rates of BDD in the general population and to examine clinical features associated with BDD.Method. Of 4152 selected participants 2552, aged 14–99 years, participated in this German nationwide survey. Participants were carefully selected to ensure that the sample was representative; they were visited by a study assistant who provided instructions and help if needed. Participation rate was 62·3%. DSM-IV criteria for BDD, as well as subthreshold features (e.g. individuals who consider some part(s) of their body as ugly or disfigured, but do not fulfill all BDD criteria) were examined. We also assessed suicidal ideation associated with the belief of having an ugly body part, as well as the desire for cosmetic surgery. Furthermore, somatization symptoms were assessed.Results. The prevalence of current BDD was 1·7% (CI 1·2–2·1%). Individuals with BDD reported higher rates of suicidal ideation (19% v. 3%) and suicide attempts due to appearance concerns (7% v. 1%) than individuals who did not meet criteria for BDD. Somatization scores were also increased in individuals with BDD, relative to those without. BDD was associated with lower financial income, lower rates of living with a partner, and higher rates of unemployment.Conclusions. Our study shows that self-reported BDD is relatively common and associated with significant morbidity.
The impact of generalized anxiety disorder and stressful life events on risk for major depressive episodes
Authors: HETTEMA JOHN M. , KUHN JONATHAN W. , PRESCOTT CAROL A. , KENDLER KENNETH S. 
Published: March 2006

Background. Both generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and stressful life events (SLEs) are established risk factors for major depressive disorder, but no studies exist that examine the interrelationship of their impact on depressive onsets. In this study, we sought to analyze the joint effects of prior history of GAD and recent SLEs on risk for major depressive episodes, comparing these in men and women.Method. In a population-based sample of 8068 adult twins, Cox proportional hazard models were used to predict onsets of major depression from reported prior GAD and last-year SLEs rated on long-term contextual threat.Results. For all levels of threat, prior GAD increases risk for depression, with a monotonic relationship between threat level and risk. While females without prior GAD consistently show higher depressive risk than males, this is no longer the case in subjects with prior GAD who have experienced SLEs. Rather, males appear to be more vulnerable to the depressogenic effects of both prior GAD and SLEs.Conclusion. The effects of prior GAD and SLEs jointly increase the risk of depression in both sexes, but disproportionately so in males.
DNA enables nanoscale control of the structure of matter
Authors: Seeman Nadrian C. 
Published: March 2006

1. Introduction 3632. Motif and sequence design 3643. Structural and topological constructions 3664. Nanomechanical devices 3675. Conclusions, applications and challenges 3706. Acknowledgments 3717. References 371Structural DNA nanotechnology consists of constructing objects, lattices and devices from branched DNA molecules. Branched DNA molecules open the way for the construction of a variety of N-connected motifs. These motifs can be joined by cohesive interactions to produce larger constructs in a bottom-up approach to nanoconstruction. The first objects produced by this approach were stick polyhedra and topological targets, such as knots and Borromean rings. These were followed by periodic arrays with programmable patterns. It is possible to exploit DNA structural transitions and sequence-specific binding to produce a variety of DNA nanomechanical devices, which include a bipedal walker and a machine that emulates the translational capabilities of the ribosome. Much of the promise of this methodology involves the use of DNA to scaffold other materials, such as biological macromolecules, nanoelectronic components, and polymers. These systems are designed to lead to improvements in crystallography, computation and the production of diverse and exotic materials.
Nucleic acid structure and intracellular immunity: some recent ideas from the world of RNAi
Authors: Fire Andrew 
Published: March 2006

1. Viruses and other informational parasites are a ‘fact of life’ 3042. Evolution drives diversity in viral strategies and host interactions 3043. Cellular defense often involves recognizing nucleic acid structures that are indicative of unwanted information duplication 3053.1 Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) 3053.2 Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) 3053.3 Unspliced mRNAs 3063.4 Polycistronic mRNAs 3063.5 Multi-copy DNAs 3063.6 Other structures 3064. dsRNA as a case study: building a multilevel response to foreign structure 3065. Getting there is half the fun: disseminated immunity in RNAi 3086. Viruses strike back … so why do we still get sick? 308Cells face a constant struggle against unwanted instructions that arrive in the form of viruses and transposons. At the core of this battle are two issues: how can cellular machinery recognize certain informational molecules as ‘unwanted’ and how can the cell use this recognition to effectively silence malicious genetic activity. While defenses against some specific parasites may be triggered by individual nucleic acid or protein sequences, such sequence-specific mechanisms have the limitation of allowing the parasite to evade following relatively minor evolutionary change. A more general set of defense mechanisms is based on recognition of structural features that are intrinsic aspects of one or more parasitic lifestyle. Recognition of extended regions of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) provides cells with one such defensive modality. Essentially absent during ‘normal’ gene expression, long stretches of dsRNA within a cell serve as a dramatic warning that a segment of information may be replicating as RNA. In addition to exemplifying many of the mechanistic issues in genome defense, the cellular response to dsRNA provides several examples of the logic by which organisms attempt to focus their limited immunity resources on the most immediate and dangerous targets.
Lost Objects: From the Laboratories of Hypnosis to the Psychoanalytic Setting
Authors: Mayer Andreas 
Published: March 2006

ArgumentThe psychoanalytic setting counts today as one of the familiar therapeutic rituals of the Western world. Taking up some of the insights of the anthropology of science will allow us to account for both the social and the material arrangements from which Freud's invention emerged at the end of the nineteenth century out of the clinical laboratories and private consulting rooms of practitioners of hypnosis. The peculiar way of neglecting or forgetting the object world and the institution of the psychoanalyst as a “transference object” will be traced back to multiple reconfigurations in the history of hypnotism in France and in Germany. In this process, different practitioners tried to achieve a synthesis of clinical work and experimental psychology, with the aim of objectifying knowledge about human subjectivity. While Freud retained the claim of psychoanalysis performing an experimental situation, he set apart his own setting from the objectifying practices which were characteristic of this experimental psychology located in the clinic and the private consulting room.It is not easy to over-estimate the importance of the part played by hypnotism in the history of the origin of psychoanalysis. From a theoretical as well as from a therapeutic point of view, psycho-analysis has at its command a legacy which it has inherited from hypnotism.Sigmund Freud, A Short Account of Psycho-Analysis ([1923] 1924, 192)
Remembering and Forgetting Freud in Early Twentieth-Century Dreams
Authors: Forrester John 
Published: March 2006

ArgumentThe paper explores the use of Freud's methods of dream interpretation by four English writers of the early twentieth century: T. H. Pear, W. H. R. Rivers, Ernest Jones, and Alix Strachey. Each employed their own dreams in rather different ways: as part of an assessment of Freud's work as a psychological theory, as illustrative of the cogency of Freud's method and theories as part of the psychoanalytic process. Each adopted different approaches to the question of privacy and decorum. The paper argues that assessment of the impact of Freud's work must take account of the application of the method to the researcher's own dreams and the personal impact this process of analysis had upon them, and must also gauge how the dreamers' deployment of Freud's methods influenced their explicit relationship to him and his theories.The dream, then, is the chief gate by which we can enter into the knowledge of the unconscious…. Thoughts and desires, which, if they attempted to dominate consciousness in waking life, would be promptly suppressed, arise, develop and expand to an astonishing extent in the dream.This statement, of course, is entirely independent of the implications of any one “theory of dreams.” Its truth is evident to anyone who has honestly recorded or considered his own dreams for even a short period.(Elliot Smith and Pear 1917, 61)
Screening Wish Theories: Dream Psychologies and Early Cinema
Authors: Marinelli Lydia 
Published: March 2006

ArgumentThe analogy between dream and film represents a central thread in the psychoanalytic discussion of cinema. Using examples taken from films created between 1900 and 1906, this paper develops a typology of dream scenes in early film. The basis for the proposed typology is provided by the dream knowledge in circulation toward the end of the nineteenth century. This knowledge was fed by a great variety of sources, some of them in the proximity of scientific research and some of them far from it, including wish-fulfilling prognostic models and those based on the reservoir of memory or on bodily stimuli. By setting cinema in a context of contemporary dream psychologies, it is possible to trace the specific conditions under which the analogy between dream and cinema could become effective.
Remembering the Evolutionary Freud
Authors: Young Allan 
Published: March 2006

ArgumentThroughout his career as a writer, Sigmund Freud maintained an interest in the evolutionary origins of the human mind and its neurotic and psychotic disorders. In common with many writers then and now, he believed that the evolutionary past is conserved in the mind and the brain. Today the “evolutionary Freud” is nearly forgotten. Even among Freudians, he is regarded to be a red herring, relevant only to the extent that he diverts attention from the enduring achievements of the authentic Freud. There are three ways to explain these attitudes. First, the evolutionary Freud's key work is the “Overview of the Transference Neurosis” (1915). But it was published at an inopportune moment, forty years after the author's death, during the so-called “Freud wars.” Second, Freud eventually lost interest in the “Overview” and the prospect of a comprehensive evolutionary theory of psychopathology. The publication of The Ego and the Id (1923), introducing Freud's structural theory of the psyche, marked the point of no return. Finally, Freud's evolutionary theory is simply not credible. It is based on just-so stories and a thoroughly discredited evolutionary mechanism, Lamarckian use-inheritance. Explanations one and two are probably correct but also uninteresting. Explanation number three assumes that there is a fundamental difference between Freud's evolutionary narratives (not credible) and the evolutionary accounts of psychopathology that currently circulate in psychiatry and mainstream journals (credible). The assumption is mistaken but worth investigating.