bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
N‐Acetylcysteine Effects on Genotoxic and Oxidative Stress Parameters in Cirrhotic Rats with Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
Authors: Vercelino Rafael , Tieppo Juliana , Dias Alexandre Simões , Marroni Cláudio Augusto , Garcia Eduardo , Meurer Luise , Picada Jaqueline Nascimento , Marroni Norma Possa 
Published: March 2008

Abstract:  The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential antioxidant effects of N‐acetylcysteine in hepatopulmonary syndrome, a complication of cirrhosis, using an experimental model of common bile duct ligation in rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups: CBDL (animals submitted to common bile duct ligation); Sham (animals submitted to simulated common bile duct ligation); Sham + N‐acetylcysteine, and CBDL + N‐acetylcysteine. N‐acetylcysteine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) was administered for 2 weeks starting on day 14 after surgery. Some alterations in the liver integrity were investigated by evaluation of serum enzymes aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and arterial blood gases. Lipoperoxidation by thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances assay, superoxide dismutase activity and total nitrates was measured as parameters of oxidative stress, performed on lung homogenates. Micronucleus assay in bone marrow and comet assay in lung, liver and blood were performed to assess the genotoxic effects by oxidative stress. The results showed an improvement in the enzymatic parameters and arterial blood gases, a reduction of lipoperoxidation and in the total nitrates after treatment with N‐acetylcysteine. Histological analysis showed vasodilatation in the lung, which was reversed by N‐acetylcysteine. Micronuclei frequency and DNA damage in lung and liver were increased in the CBDL group. N‐Acetylcysteine caused no genotoxic effect and did not influence the induction of micronucleus in bone marrow and DNA damage in lung and liver. The results suggest protective effects after treatment with N‐acetylcysteine in cirrhotic rats with hepatopulmonary syndrome.
Metyrapone and Mifepristone Reverse Recognition Memory Loss Induced by Spontaneous Morphine Withdrawal in Mice
Authors: Mesripour Azadeh , Hajhashemi Valiollah , Rabbani Mohammed 
Published: March 2008

Abstract:  Morphine withdrawal leads to an increase in corticosterone concentration in plasma, and cognitive deficits are found after withdrawal. Evidence indicates that glucocorticoid hormones affect memory. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of metyrapone and mifepristone on memory deficit following spontaneous morphine withdrawal. Memory was tested by using the object recognition task. The novel object recognition task was carried out in a square wooden open‐field apparatus using objects. The test was comprised of three sections: habituation for 15 min., first trial for 12 min. and test trial for 5 min. In this learning paradigm, the difference in exploration between a previously seen object and a novel object is taken as an index of memory performance (recognition index – RI). Male mice were made dependent by increasing doses of morphine (30–90 mg/kg) subcutaneously twice daily for 3 days. RI was assessed 4 hr after the last dose of morphine on the third day. Mifepristone (50 and 100 mg/kg) and metyrapone (12.5 and 25 mg/kg) were used subcutaneously before the first trial and effects were compared to control values. Metyrapone (25 mg/kg) and mifepristone (50 mg/kg) improved RI to 34.8 ± 10.8% and 25.4 ± 11.7%, respectively, which are significantly different from control values (RI = −14.8 ± 10.7%, P < 0.05). These results show that increased glucocorticoid concentration may be involved in memory deficit caused by morphine withdrawal. Metyrapone by inhibiting glucocorticoid formation, and mifepristone by inhibiting glucocorticoid receptors may be useful for preventing memory deficit following morphine withdrawal.
Effects of chronic exercise on myocardial refractoriness: a study on isolated rabbit heart
Authors: Such L. , Alberola A. M. , Such‐Miquel L. , López L. , Trapero I. , Pelechano F. , Gómez‐Cabrera M. C. , Tormos A. , Millet J. , Chorro F. J. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractAim:  To determine whether chronic physical training increases atrial and ventricular refractoriness in isolated rabbit heart.Methods:  Trained rabbits were submitted to a protocol of treadmill running. The electrophysiological parameters of refractoriness investigated in an isolated heart preparation were: (1) atrial effective refractory period (AERP) and atrial functional refractory period and ventricular effective and functional refractory periods (VERP and VFRP) using the extrastimulus technique at four different pacing cycle lengths; (2) the dominant frequency (DF) of ventricular fibrillation (VF). A multi‐electrode plaque containing 256 electrodes and a spectral method were used to obtain the mean, maximum and minimum DF of VF. Sinus cycle length of the isolated hearts was determined as an electrophysiological parameter of training. In vivo heart rate, myocardial heat shock proteins (HSP60) and inducible nitric oxide synthase were also determined in some animals as electrophysiological and biochemical markers of training respectively.Results:  VERP and VFRP were longer in the trained group than in the control group. The mean DF of VF was lower in the trained group than in the control group. Despite the fact that training did not significantly modify the AERP, it tended to be longer in the trained group (P = 0.09).Conclusion:  Training seems to increase the electrical stability of ventricular myocardium. As the electrophysiological modifications were exhibited in hearts not submitted to extrinsic nervous system or humoral influences, they are, at least in part, intrinsic modifications. These electrophysiological data also suggest that training could protect against reentrant ventricular arrhythmias.
Protein–Protein Interaction of a Pharaonis Halorhodopsin Mutant Forming a Complex with Pharaonis Halobacterial Transducer Protein II Detected by Fourier‐Transform Infrared Spectroscopy†
Authors: Furutani Yuji , Ito Motohiro , Sudo Yuki , Kamo Naoki , Kandori Hideki 
Published: March 2008

Abstract Pharaonis halorhodopsin (pHR) functions as a light‐driven inward chloride ion pump in Natoronomonas pharaonis, while pharaonis phoborhodopsin (ppR; also called pharaonis sensory rhodopsin II, pSRII), is a light sensor for negative phototaxis. ppR forms a 2:2 complex with its cognate transducer protein (pHtrII) through intramembranous hydrogen bonds: Tyr199ppR–Asn74pHtrII and Thr189ppR–Glu43 pHtrII, Ser62pHtrII. It was reported that a pHR mutant (P240T/F250Y), which possesses the hydrogen‐bonding sites, impairs its pumping activity upon complexation with pHtrII. In this study, effect of the complexation with pHtrII on the structural changes upon formation of the K, L1 and L2 intermediates of pHR was investigated by use of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy. The vibrational changes of Tyr250pHR and Asn74pHtrII were detected for the L1 and L2 intermediates, supporting that Tyr250pHR forms a hydrogen bond with Asn74pHtrII as similarly to Tyr199ppR. The conformational changes of the retinal chromophore were never affected by complexation with pHtrII, but amide‐I vibrations were clearly different in the absence and presence of pHtrII. The molecular environment around Asp156pHR in helix D is also slightly affected. These additional structural changes are probably related to blocking of translocation of a chloride ion from the extracellular to the cytoplasmic side during the photocycle.
Vitamin B2‐sensitized Photo‐oxidation of Dopamine
Authors: Massad Walter A. , Barbieri Yanina , Romero Mario , García Norman A. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractKinetics and mechanism of the photo‐oxidation of the natural catecholamine‐type neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) has been studied in aqueous solution, under aerobic conditions, in the presence of riboflavin (Rf, vitamin B2) as a photosensitizer. Results indicate the formation of a weak dark complex Rf–DA, with a mean apparent association constant Kass = 30 m−1, only detectable at DA concentrations much higher than those employed in photochemical experiments. An intricate mechanism of competitive reactions operates upon photoirradiation. DA quenches excited singlet and triplet states of Rf, with rate constants of 4.2 × 109 and 2.2 × 109 m−1 s−1, respectively. With the catecholamine in a concentration similar to that of dissolved molecular oxygen in air‐saturated water, DA and oxygen competitively quench the triplet excited state of Rf, generating superoxide radical anion (O2•−) and singlet molecular oxygen (O2(1Δg)) by processes initiated by electron and energy‐transfer mechanisms, respectively. Rate constants values of 1.9 × 108 and 6.6 × 106 m−1 s−1 have been obtained for the overall and reactive (chemical) interaction of DA with O2(1Δg). The presence of superoxide dismutase increases both the observed rates of aerobic DA photo‐oxidation and oxygen uptake, due to its known catalytic scavenging of O2•−, a species that could revert the overall photo‐oxidation effect, according to the proposed reaction mechanism. As in most of the catecholamine oxidative processes described in the literature, aminochrome is the DA oxidation product upon visible light irradiation in the presence of Rf. It is generated with a quantum yield of 0.05.
To Practice What We Preach: The Use of Hypocrisy and Cognitive Dissonance to Motivate Behavior Change
Authors: Stone Jeff , Fernandez Nicholas C. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractWhen people fail to practice what they preach, their act of hypocrisy can induce cognitive dissonance and the motivation to change their behavior. The current paper examines the evidence for this assumption by reviewing and analyzing the research that has used the hypocrisy procedure to influence the performance of pro‐social behaviors related to health, the environment, and interpersonal relations. The first section looks at the evidence for the claim that hypocrisy motivates behavior change as opposed to other forms of dissonance reduction such as attitude change. We then review studies that suggest that the induction of hypocrisy exerts its greatest effect on behavior change when people publicly advocate the importance of the target course of action and are then privately reminded of their own recent personal failures to perform the target behavior. A third section discusses the limitations to the current body of work and important directions for future research. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of how the hypocrisy procedure relates to other contemporary models of behavior change.
Social Categorization and Stereotyping: How Social Categorization Biases Person Perception and Face Memory
Authors: Hugenberg Kurt , Sacco Donald F. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractThe current article offers a brief history of research and theory related to social categorization and stereotyping. We begin by outlining research focusing on category selection, category activation, and category application. We then discuss the consequences of social categorization, noting that one of the most important and ubiquitous effects of social categorization is homogenization or assimilation. We then extend this research related to the assimilative consequences of social categorization to the realm of face memory. Specifically, we introduce the Categorization‐Individuation Model (see also Hugenberg et al., forthcoming) as a new model of the Cross‐Race Effect, or the difficulty many perceivers have in recognizing members of other racial groups. The Categorization‐Individuation Model argues that the Cross‐Race Effect is due to the tendency to categorize out‐group members but individuate in‐group members. Finally, we summarize the extant research in support of this new model of person memory and close by discussing the current state of, and potential future directions for, social categorization research.
Refining the Prediction of Effort: Brehm's Distinction between Potential Motivation and Motivation Intensity
Authors: Wright Rex A. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractIt is self‐evident that resource allocation is better understood when a distinction is made between what people are willing to do to achieve a purpose and what they will do to achieve the purpose. Yet, motivation theorists have largely ignored this distinction in attempting to understand effort aspects of motivated behavior. An exception is Brehm, who has distinguished potential motivation from motivation intensity. Potential motivation refers to the upper limit of what people would be willing to do to satisfy a motive. It is proposed to vary with factors traditionally thought to determine motive strength (importance). Motivation intensity refers to effort and is proposed to vary proximally with the difficulty of instrumental behavior, first rising and then falling precipitously. In this article, I discuss Brehm's distinction and elaborate on its significance.
Feeling Transparent: On Metaperceptions and Miscommunications
Authors: Cameron Jessica J. , Vorauer Jacquie D. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractIndividuals’ metaperceptions regarding how another person views them tend to be egocentrically biased by their own private self‐knowledge: They overestimate the extent to which their traits, feelings, and intentions are ‘transparent’, perceiving more congruence between their inner self and the other person's impressions than actually exists. In the present article, we examine the factors, such as self‐awareness and feelings of closeness, that increase individuals’ propensity to exaggerate their transparency to others. We also examine the interpersonal consequences of transparency overestimation and the related signal amplification bias, considering how they can reduce the likelihood of relationship formation, derail the seeking and provision of social support in ongoing relationships, and more generally lead to relational conflict. Lastly, we discuss the interventions available to reduce these biases.
From Ego Depletion to Vitality: Theory and Findings Concerning the Facilitation of Energy Available to the Self
Authors: Ryan Richard M. , Deci Edward L. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractVitality, or the energy available to the self, is a salient and functionally significant indicator of health and motivation. Previous models (e.g., Baumeister & Vohs, 2007) have suggested how such energy can be depleted but have focused less on how it can be maintained or enhanced. In this article, we describe a model of energy and vitality based on self‐determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). We review substantial evidence that, whereas the self‐controlling regulation of behavior depletes vitality and energy, the autonomous self‐regulation of behavior does not. A growing number of experimental and field studies also suggest that vitality and energy are enhanced by activities that satisfy basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Lifestyles focused on extrinsic goals are less conducive to need satisfaction and thus engender less vitality. We conclude that social psychological factors associated with need satisfaction have important implications for health and vitality and for informing interventions.
Controversies Surrounding Mandatory Arrest Policies and the Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Leisenring Amy 
Published: March 2008

AbstractSince the early 1970s, the efforts of the battered women's movement have led to many changes in the criminal justice response to intimate partner violence (often referred to more broadly as ‘domestic violence’) in the USA. One important reform has been the implementation of policies that encourage or mandate the arrest of offenders. However, mandatory arrest policies have been hotly debated by scholars, activists, and criminal justice system officials. In this article, I review the recent changes to the ways in which police officers respond to intimate partner violence and discuss the controversies surrounding these changes in light of recent research. I briefly consider why the literature on this topic has produced such contradictory findings and I discuss several actions that need to be taken in order to improve police response to intimate partner violence and better meet the needs of battered women.
Popular Music Cultures, Media and Youth Consumption: Towards an Integration of Structure, Culture and Agency
Authors: Brown Andy R. 
Published: March 2008

AbstractYouth, media and popular music studies have developed in separate fields of research, resulting in a lack of integration of key areas of enquiry, such as the relationship between the cultural and structural in youth music consumption and the role of media industries in ‘framing’ such a process. A more recent focus on popular music as a media culture suggest a way forward in exploring links between production, mediation and consumption of music and youth consumer practices. This article reviews three such frameworks: (i) the production of consumption, (ii) production of culture/cultures of production and (iii) cultures of consumption, evaluating their contribution to a more integrated understanding of how youth consume music as a structurally and culturally mediated process. Controversies over youth ‘download culture’ and evidence of regulatory changes in the global music industry and its impact on how youth consumers can access music media, underlines the need to pursue a research integration agenda, drawing popular music and youth consumption research closer together. Yet it remains the case that both approaches exhibit a structural vs. cultural divide over youth consumption and its relationship to the global music industry, offering optimism and pessimism in equal measure.
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays Using Novel Japanese Encephalitis Virus Antigen Improve the Accuracy of Clinical Diagnosis of Flavivirus Infections
Authors: Chiou Shyan-Song , Crill Wayne D. , Chen Li-Kuang , Chang Gwong-Jen J. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT
The cross-reactive antibodies induced by flavivirus infections confound serodiagnosis and pathogenesis, especially in secondary infections caused by antigenically closely related yet distinct flaviviruses. The envelope (E) glycoprotein fusion peptide contains immunodominant cross-reactive determinants. Using a recombinant Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) premembrane and E expression plasmid producing JEV virus-like particles (VLPs), dramatic reductions in cross-reactivity were produced by the G106K-L107D (KD) double-mutant VLP against a panel of flavivirus murine monoclonal antibodies. Human serum panels from patients with recent flavivirus infections were analyzed to compare the accuracy of JEV wild-type (WT) and KD VLPs as serodiagnostic antigens in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Statistical analysis demonstrated significant differences in assay performances for accurate determination of current JEV infections between WT and KD antigens by detecting immunoglobulin M antibodies at a serum dilution of 1:4,000 (likelihood ratios = 2.74 [WT] and 22 [KD]). The application and continued development of cross-reactivity-reduced antigens should improve both flavivirus infection serodiagnosis and estimates of disease burden.
Prevention of Assay Interference in Infectious-Disease Serology Tests Done on the Liaison Platform
Authors: Berth Mario , Bosmans Eugene 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT
Immunoassay interference causing unexpected reactive results in magnetic-microparticle-based assays was detected. A systematic evaluation of Liaison Epstein-Barr virus immunoglobulin M showed that 5% of the positive results (0.4% of tested samples) could be explained by such interference. Adding chemical blocking reagents (polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyvinyl alcohol) to the assay buffers partially prevented this phenomenon.
Thoracic Vertebral Actinomycosis:Actinomyces israeliiandFusobacterium nucleatum
Authors: Honda Hitoshi , Bankowski Matthew J. , Kajioka Eric H. N. , Chokrungvaranon Nalurporn , Kim Wesley , Gallacher Scott T. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACTActinomycesspp. are considered rare pathogens in today's medicine, especially with thoracic vertebral involvement. Classic actinomycosis (50%) presents as an oral-cervicofacial (“lumpy jaw”) infection. This report describes a case of spinal cord compression caused byActinomyces israeliiwith the coisolation ofFusobacterium nucleatum. There are limited numbers of similar cases.
Variable Patterns of Programmed Death-1 Expression on Fully Functional Memory T Cells after Spontaneous Resolution of Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Authors: Bowen David G. , Shoukry Naglaa H. , Grakoui Arash , Fuller Michael J. , Cawthon Andrew G. , Dong Christine , Hasselschwert Dana L. , Brasky Kathleen M. , Freeman Gordon J. , Seth Nilufer P. , Wucherpfennig Kai W. , Houghton Michael , Walker Christopher M. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT

The inhibitory receptor programmed death-1 (PD-1) is present on CD8
+
T cells in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), but expression patterns in spontaneously resolving infections are incompletely characterized. Here we report that PD-1 was usually absent on memory CD8
+
T cells from chimpanzees with resolved infections, but sustained low-level expression was sometimes observed in the absence of apparent virus replication. PD-1-positive memory T cells expanded and displayed antiviral activity upon reinfection with HCV, indicating conserved function. This animal model should facilitate studies of whether PD-1 differentially influences effector and memory T-cell function in resolved versus persistent human infections.
Domain within Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Scaffold Proteins Required for Interaction with Portal Protein in Infected Cells and Incorporation of the Portal Vertex into Capsids
Authors: Yang Kui , Baines Joel D. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT

The portal vertex of herpesvirus capsids serves as the conduit through which DNA is inserted during the assembly process. In herpes simplex virus (HSV), the portal is composed of 12 copies of the U
L
6 gene product, pU
L
6. Previous results identified a domain in the major capsid scaffold protein, ICP35, required for interaction with pU
L
6 and its incorporation into capsids formed in vitro (G. P. Singer et al., J. Virol. 74:6838-6848, 2005). In the current studies, pU
L
6 and scaffold proteins were found to coimmunoprecipitate from lysates of both HSV-infected cells and mammalian cells expressing scaffold proteins and pU
L
6. The coimmunoprecipitation of pU
L
6 and scaffold proteins was precluded upon deletion of codons 143 to 151 within U
L
26.5, encoding ICP35. While wild-type scaffold proteins colocalized with pU
L
6 when transiently coexpressed as viewed by indirect immunofluorescence, deletion of U
L
26.5 codons 143 to 151 precluded this colocalization. A recombinant herpes simplex virus, vJB11, was generated that lacked U
L
26.5 codons 143 to 151. A virus derived from this mutant but bearing a restored U
L
26.5 was also generated. vJB11 was unable to cleave or package viral DNA, whereas the restored virus packaged DNA normally. vJB11 produced ample numbers of B capsids in infected cells, but these lacked normal levels of pU
L
6. The deletion in U
L
26.5 also rendered pU
L
6 resistant to detergent extraction from vJB11-infected cells. These data indicate that, as was observed in vitro, amino acids 143 to 151 of ICP35 are critical for (i) interaction between scaffold proteins and pU
L
6 and (ii) incorporation of the HSV portal into capsids.