bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Loosening the Ties that Bind: The Impact of European Integration on French Government and its Relationship to Business
Authors: Schmidt Vivien A. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractEuropean integration has served to loosen the ties that have traditionally bound French business and government by decreasing the independence of French govenment, which can no longer formulate policy unilaterally, while it has increased that of French business, which now looks as much to Europe as to the nation‐state for policy‐making, and more to the market and one another than the state for financing. European integration has also reduced the flexibility of government at the implementation stage, with the EU regulatory model replacing France's administrative model. The result is an unbalancing of France's traditional ‘statist’ model of policy‐making, and potential problems for French democracy.
Women's Networks and the European Union: Towards an Inclusive Approach?
Authors: Bretherton Charlotte , Sperling Liz 
Published: March 2008

AbstractThis article falls into two parts: the application of policy network analysis (PNA) to UK women's networking activities; and exploration of the extent to which these activities are focused upon the European Union (EU) policy process. Evidence from three sources ‐ trades union and local government equality officers, and women's voluntary organizations ‐ demonstrates that women's networking is widespread, intense, politically oriented and inclusive. However, the concepts of PNA are found to exclude much of women's political activity and are here adapted to produce a more inclusive model. In terms of their focus, women's networks remain overwhelmingly oriented toward the UK policy process even where issues fall within EU competence. Impediments to more effective EU‐focused networking are discussed.
Managing Value‐for‐Money Audit in the European Union: The Challenge of Diversity*
Authors: Levy Roger 
Published: March 2008

AbstractThere has been a growing recognition over recent years within European Union (EU) legislation (e.g. the regulations governing the Structural Funds of 1988 and 1993, and the new Financial Regulation of 1990), and by managers in the Union institutions that ‘value‐for‐money’ considerations, and review and evaluation, should form part of the financial management and policy‐making process.There is considerable debate, however, about the extent to which these techniques are used by the Commission, the European Court of Auditors (ECA), or within the implementing agencies of the Member States. It is the objective of this article to assess the changes, if any, in deployment and usage of these techniques over the past 15 years or so, and to identify the characteristics of the current arrangements by reference to specific policy areas.In order to define the scope of the study, we discuss the meaning of value‐for‐money (VFM) audit in the EU context, and move on to the framework of these activities within the implementation process. A review of the VFM work of the Commission, Court of Auditors and Member State agencies follows. The study concludes with an analysis of current and future prospects.
The Council Decides‘: Does the Council Decide?*
Authors: Schendelen M.P.C.M. Van 
Published: March 2008

AbstractWhat happens in the Council of Ministers? According to the Treaty, the Council is the major body of decision‐making. But with its notorious and contested secrecy, there is very little knowledge about what really happens in Council meetings.The author of this article gained full possession of the complete agendas and the comprehensive proceedings of all 20 meetings of the Agricultural Council in the years 1992–93. Almost 500 items were placed on the agenda for Council decision‐making. He examines how these items were handled by the Council and its preparatory bodies. He also finds that ministers dislike submitting an important issue to the higher level of the General Council; that the atmosphere among ministers is generally tough and businesslike; and that information given to national parliaments is very incomplete.The various findings are critically discussed in the perspectives of influence on Council decision‐making, potential lobby strategies and transparency.
Fingerprint Profile of Alcohol‐Associated Heart Failure in Human Hearts
Authors: Haddad Georges E. , Saunders Lori , Carles Maria , Crosby Seth D. , Del Monte Federica , Macgillivray Thomas E. , Semigran Marc J. , Dec G. William , Hajjar Roger J. , Doye Angelia A. , Glass Rita , El Margo , Gwathmey Judith K. 
Published: March 2008

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption is recognized as a cause of left ventricular dysfunction and leads often to alcohol‐induced heart failure. It is thought that 36% of all cases of dilated cardiomyopathy are due to excessive alcohol intake. In addition, since chronic alcohol‐consumption is a social behavior that is not always clearly self‐reported clinically, it has been difficult to diagnose alcohol‐induced heart failure versus heart failure due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM). Interestingly, both diseases are associated with left ventricular dysfunction and congestive heart failure.Methods: We have created a human heart failure cDNA array for IDCM from nonfailing and failing human hearts. The array contains 1,143 heart specific oligonucleotide probes. This array was used to screen RNA samples from transplant recipients and organ donors with alcohol‐related heart failure.Results: Our study shows that alcohol‐induced heart failure has a “specific fingerprint” profile of de‐regulated genes. This profile can differentiate patients with pure alcohol‐induced heart failure from patients with heart failure from IDCM with alcohol as a complicating or contributing factor. Furthermore, the pattern of gene de‐regulation suggests a pivotal role for changes in matrix, cytoskeletal, and structural proteins in the development of clinical heart failure resulting from excessive alcohol consumption.Conclusions: We report for the first time a genomic “fingerprint” profile of de‐regulated genes associated with human alcohol‐induced heart failure. We conclude that the pathogenesis of alcohol‐induced heart failure in humans is likely related to changes in architectural (e.g. cytoskeletal), matrix, and/or structural proteins. The reversibility of the disease upon cessation of alcohol consumption makes this a likely pathogenetic mechanism. Nevertheless, there is a point at which extracellular as well as cellular changes result in irreversible heart failure.
Early Ethanol Consumption Predicts Relapse‐Like Behavior in Adolescent Male Rats
Authors: Schramm‐Sapyta Nicole L. , Kingsley Megan A. , Rezvani Amir H. , Propst Kiayia , Swartzwelder H. Scott , Kuhn Cynthia M. 
Published: March 2008

Background:  Alcohol abuse disorders emerge over time with repeated consumption of ethanol, but not all ethanol drinkers develop these disorders. There are pre‐existing characteristics that indicate which drinkers are most likely to abuse alcohol. Adolescence, novelty seeking, and high stress reactivity are among the characteristics of the most vulnerable individuals. In addition, an individual’s response to his or her first exposure to the drug influences future consumption. We assessed an array of behavioral and hormonal characteristics in adolescent (28‐day‐old) male rats before exposure to ethanol, and then determined which rats were most prone to high levels of alcohol drinking.Methods:  The assessments consisted of measures of anxiety (elevated plus maze), response to novelty (open field locomotion, novel object exploration), and circulating corticosterone levels after mild restraint and after the elevated plus maze task. After this test battery, the rats were placed in lickometer cages nightly (5 pm to 9 am) for evaluation of fluid consumption. Rats were first habituated to the cages with water in the lickometer bottles, and then given 10% (v/v) ethanol for 3 nights as the only available fluid. After this forced ethanol exposure, the rats were allowed to choose between 8% ethanol and water for 10 consecutive nights. After 2 nights of abstinence, the rats were again placed in the lickometer cages and given a choice between 8% ethanol and water to assess ethanol consumption in response to alcohol deprivation, a measure of relapse‐like behavior.Results:  Ethanol consumption on the third day of forced consumption was significantly correlated with ethanol consumption on days 8 to 10 of the choice phase, which in turn was significantly correlated to relapse‐like consumption. Preference for ethanol was also significantly correlated with early consumption. Novel object exploration, open field activity, open arm time in the elevated plus maze, initial water consumption, and circulating corticosterone levels did not significantly predict deprivation‐stimulated consumption.Conclusions:  These results suggest that consumption during early exposure to ethanol establishes a pattern leading to development of increased alcohol consumption and preference in adolescent male rats. In addition, they represent an animal model of the well‐described observation that humans who consume large quantities of ethanol during early exposure are the most likely to repeat heave drinking behavior. Furthermore, early consumption is distinct from novelty seeking, anxiety, and stress hormone levels which are also thought to contribute to vulnerability to alcoholism.
Restraint Stress and Ethanol Consumption in Two Mouse Strains
Authors: Yang Xiaoju , Wang Shelun , Rice Kenner C. , Munro Cynthia A. , Wand Gary S. 
Published: March 2008

Background:  This study examined the interaction between restraint stress and ethanol drinking in mice that consume low and high amounts of ethanol.Methods:  Two strains of mice (129SVEV and C57BL/6J) underwent 1 hour of restraint stress twice per day for 4 days in the presence of a CRF‐1 receptor antagonist, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist or vehicle. Ethanol preference and consumption were assessed using a two bottle choice design. In another study, mice were implanted with pellets containing corticosterone; ethanol preference and consumption were assessed using a two bottle choice design.Results:  Restraint stress significantly increased ethanol preference and consumption in 129SVEV mice but not in C57BL/6J mice. Then 129SVEV mice underwent the identical stress procedure; however, mice received either the CRF‐1 receptor antagonist, R121919 (15 or 20 mg/kg, ip) or vehicle 30 minutes prior to stress. R121919 did not block the stress‐induced change in ethanol preference despite causing a significant blunting in the HPA axis. Negative results were also obtained using the CRF‐1 receptor antagonist, Antalarmin (20 mg/kg, ip). In another study, 129SVEV mice were administered either the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist Mifepristone (25, 50 or 100 μg/kg, ip) or vehicle under the same procedure. Mifepristone did not alter ethanol preference. Moreover, the three receptor antagonist did not alter nonstress ethanol consumption either. In the last study, both mouse strains underwent active or sham adrenalectomy, then pellets containing corticosterone or placebo were implanted and preference for ethanol versus water was tested. Corticosterone administration decreased ethanol consumption in a strain‐dependent manner.Conclusion:  These data show the restraint model for stress can modestly increase ethanol consumption in 129SVEV mice but not in C57BL/6J mice. Pharmacologic manipulation of CRF and corticosterone did not blunt baseline or stress‐induced change in ethanol preference nor did administration of corticosterone mimic the effects of restraint stress on ethanol consumption. These findings suggest the mechanism responsible for increasing ethanol consumption in this model is independent of the HPA axis and extra‐hypothalamic CRF.
Naltrexone and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: Do Sex Differences Exist?
Authors: Baros A. M. , Latham P. K. , Anton R. F. 
Published: March 2008

Background:  Sex differences in regards to pharmacotherapy for alcoholism is a topic of concern following publications suggesting naltrexone, one of the longest approved treatments of alcoholism, is not as effective in women as in men. This study was conducted by combining 2 randomized placebo controlled clinical trials utilizing similar methodologies and personnel in which the data was amalgamated to evaluate sex effects in a reasonable sized sample.Methods:  A total of 211 alcoholics (57 female and 154 male) were randomized to the naltrexone/cognitive behavorial thearpy (CBT) or placebo/CBT arm of the 2 clinical trials analyzed. Baseline variables were examined for differences between sex and treatment groups via ANOVA for continuous variable or chi‐squared test for categorical variables. All initial outcome analysis was conducted under an intent‐to‐treat analysis plan. Effect sizes for naltrexone over placebo were determined by Cohen’s D (d).Results:  The effect size of naltrexone over placebo for the following outcome variables was similar in men and women [% days abstinent (PDA) d = 0.36, % heavy drinking days (PHDD) d = 0.36, and total standard drinks (TSD) d = 0.36]. Only for men were the differences significant secondary to the larger sample size (PDA p = 0.03; PHDD p = 0.03; TSD p = 0.04). There were a few variables (GGT at week‐12 change from baseline to week‐12: men d = 0.36, p = 0.05; women d = 0.20, p = 0.45 and drinks per drinking day: men d = 0.36, p = 0.05; women d = 0.28, p = 0.34) where the naltrexone effect size for men was greater than women. In women, naltrexone tended to increase continuous abstinent days before a first drink (women d = 0.46, p = 0.09 and men d = 0.00, p = 0.44).Conclusions:  The effect size of naltrexone over placebo appeared similar in women and men in our hands suggesting the findings of sex differences in naltrexone response might have to do with sample size and/or endpoint drinking variables rather than any inherent pharmacological or biological differences in response.
Breast or bottle? Eating disordered childbearing women and infant‐feeding decisions
Authors: Stapleton Helen , Fielder Anna , Kirkham Mavis 
Published: March 2008

AbstractDebates about infant‐feeding methods have intensified in recent years with increasing pressures on women living in industrialized nations to breastfeed their infants. This paper, based on a qualitative study of 16 childbearing women with a pre‐existing eating disorder living in the north of England, examines participants' motivations for, and understandings of, infant‐feeding decisions and practices. In this study, a small number of participants reported being ‘desperate’ to formula feed in order to resume practices underpinning their eating disorder and thereby to shed the weight accumulated during pregnancy. These participants anticipated an early return to restrictive eating, heavy exercise regimes and/or bingeing/purging behaviours. Most participants, however, reported being ‘desperate’ to breastfeed because this implied ‘good’ mothering and prolonged the time during which they could consume ‘naughty’ treats. Women who opted to breastfeed generally believed this would accelerate weight loss. This study contributes to research on the subjective experiences of a particular group of women living with chronic illnesses and problematic relationships with their bodies. Negotiating individual transitions to motherhood required participants to confront their own, often longstanding, disrupted eating patterns and to make important decisions about infant‐feeding methods. Findings from this study raise questions about some of the assumptions underpinning infant‐feeding activities and articulate some of the complexities surrounding these issues. By highlighting ways in which women may compromise their own well‐being by prioritizing their baby's needs, for example by persisting with breastfeeding when they were ‘desperate’ to re‐engage with their disordered eating practices, an individualized cost‐benefit framing is outlined.
Health goals among primary care patients
Authors: Lauver Diane Ruth , Worawong Chiraporn , Olsen Christine 
Published: March 2008

AbstractPurpose: To identify individuals’ health goals and describe their preferences in attaining those goals and to explore associations of type of goals with individual characteristics.Data sources: In a descriptive study, 60 adult patients from primary care clinics completed written questionnaires anonymously. Content analyses and frequencies were used to summarize data.Conclusions: Health promotion interventions could be more effective if they were customized, in part, to individuals’ health goals. There are few evidence‐based descriptions of individuals’ own health goals and their preferences in how to pursue them. Participants in this study shared common goals to get in shape, lose weight, and change consumption. Participants preferred to meet initially with practitioners to obtain advice and to connect subsequently by telephone for monitoring.Implications: Participants did want to improve their health. More specific understanding of such goals and preferences is needed to guide future interventions. Findings can inform clinicians and guide researchers in how to design health behavior interventions.
School‐Based Obesity Interventions: A Literature Review
Authors: Shaya Fadia T. , Flores David , Gbarayor Confidence M. , Wang Jingshu 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACTBackground:  Childhood obesity is an impending epidemic. This article is an overview of different interventions conducted in school settings so as to guide efforts for an effective management of obesity in children, thus minimizing the risk of adult obesity and related cardiovascular risk.Methods:  PubMed and OVID Medline databases were searched for school‐based obesity interventions with anthropometric measures in children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 19 years from June 1986 to June 2006. Studies were reviewed by duration, type of intervention, and defined qualitative and quantitative measures, resulting in a yield of 51 intervention studies.Results:  The interventions ranged from 4 weeks in length to as long as 8 continuing years. In total, 15 of the intervention studies exclusively utilized physical activity programs, 16 studies exclusively utilized educational models and behavior modification strategies, and 20 studies utilized both. In addition, 31 studies utilized exclusively quantitative variables like body mass indices and waist‐to‐hip ratios to measure the efficacy of the intervention programs, and another 20 studies utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures that included self‐reported physical activity and attitude toward physical activity and the tested knowledge of nutrition, cardiovascular health, and physical fitness. A total of 40 studies achieved positive statistically significant results between the baseline and the follow‐up quantitative measurements.Conclusions:  No persistence of positive results in reducing obesity in school‐age children has been observed. Studies employing long‐term follow‐up of quantitative and qualitative measurements of short‐term interventions in particular are warranted.
Meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a veterinary orthopaedic referral hospital: staff nasal colonisation and incidence of clinical cases
Authors: McLean C. L. , Ness M. G. 
Published: March 2008

Objectives: To evaluate staff nasal colonisation with meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a veterinary orthopaedic referral hospital, and its effect on the occurrence of meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus‐associated postoperative wound complications in orthopaedic and spinal surgical patients. Methods: Nasal bacterial swabs were collected from veterinary staff and environmental surfaces swabbed at six monthly intervals for meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus monitoring over an 18 month period. The incidence of meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus‐associated postoperative wound complications of two veterinary orthopaedic surgeons was reviewed for a period when one was positive for nasal meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Results: Meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from a maximum of two out of 10 staff on each occasion. The persistently infected clinician was primary surgeon in 180 cases, of which four developed meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus‐associated wound complications. None of 141 operations led by the other surgeon developed meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus‐associated complications. This difference is not statistically significant (P=0·0974). The 95 per cent confidence interval for this odds ratio was 0·83 to 44·0. Meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus resistance patterns of the human nasal isolates and three of four wound‐associated isolates were similar. Clinical Significance: Veterinary workers are at increased risk for meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation, so it is likely that many veterinary patients are treated by meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus‐positive staff. Nasal colonisation of veterinary surgeons with meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus appears to present only a small risk to their patients when appropriate infection control procedures are followed.
2. Persistence of Equine Herpesviruses in Experimentally Infected Horses and the Experimental Induction of Abortion
Authors: Turner A. J. , Studdert M. J. , Peterson J. E. 
Published: March 2008

SummaryAn 8‐month‐old filly (No. 2) developed an acute vulvo‐vaginitis and respiratory disease following inoculation of equine herpesvirus (EH virus) type 1 (EH 39 virus; equine rhinopneumonitis virus) into the vestibule of the vagina. The same virus produced acute respiratory disease but not balanoposthitis following intranasal, intravenous and intrapreputial inoculation of a 12‐month‐old colt (No. 3). A second 8‐month‐old filly (No. 1) developed a mild respiratory disease but not vulvo‐vaginitis following intravestibular inoculation of EH 39 virus. EH viruses that were slowly cytopathic for equine foetal kidney cell cultures and serologically unrelated to the inoculated EH 39 virus were isolated from the buffy coat cells at 3 days and from the nasal cavity at 6 days after inoculation of horse No. 1.EH virus that was slowly cytopathic and serologically unrelated to EH 39 virus was isolated at 16 days from the vagina of the filly (No. 2) that developed acute vulvovaginitis and was frequently isolated from the nasal cavities of 2 of the 3 horses for 83 days and from the nasal cavity of the third horse for 57 days under conditions that precluded reinfection from other equidae except from each other. EH viruses were recovered from the 3 horses for a further 58 days under conditions where contact with other equidae may, although was not known to, have occurred between 83 and 141 days postinoculation.It was concluded that these viruses represented a single virus type that was present in the nasal cavity (designated EH 1–6 virus) perhaps also the blood stream of filly No. 1 at the time the 3 horses were purchased and that this virus was subsequently transmitted to the vagina of 1 and the nasal cavities of the other 2 horses. Accordingly a carrier state for EH 39 virus was not shown to occur. These findings are discussed in relation to the natural history of EH virus infections.Attempts to reactivate the EH viruses to cause clinical respiratory disease, by a series of injections of adrenalin and cortisone, were inconclusive. The 3 horses showed no clinical evidence of respiratory disease when they were reinfected intranasally with EH 39 virus 360 days (1 horse) and 412 days (2 horses) after the initial infection with this virus.Abortion was produced when EH 39 virus was inoculated directly into the allantoic or amniotic cavity of a pregnant mare although naturally occurring EH virus abortion remains unrecognised in Australia.