bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Helicobacter pylori
Authors: Egan B. J. , Katicic M. , O’Connor H. J. , O'Morain C. A. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractSince the discovery of Helicobacter pylori in the early 1980s many treatment regimes have been developed to effectively treat this infection. International guidelines have allowed consensus on the best management and improved eradication rates. In recent years, increasing antimicrobial resistance has resulted in falling eradication rates with standard therapies. In this article, we review the most recent studies and guidelines in the treatment of H. pylori. Currently, the first‐line treatment remains clarithromycin, amoxicillin or metronidazole and proton pump inhibitor twice daily, but a number of recent studies have shown low eradication rates with this treatment. Increased duration of therapy has been recommended to overcome the falling eradication rates. However, conflicting findings have been reported on the benefits of extending the length of traditional therapy. Sequential therapy may be an effective alternative to standard triple therapy in regions of increased antimicrobial resistance. Probiotics reduce side‐effects from traditional regimens and may improve eradication rates. A quinolone‐based second‐line triple therapy appears to be effective and well tolerated. Bismuth‐based quadruple therapy is also an effective alternative if available. In the future, regional antimicrobial resistance and eradication rates will determine the best treatment for H. pylori.
Helicobacter and Gastric Malignancies
Authors: Moss Steven F. , Malfertheiner Peter 
Published: August 2007

AbstractOver the past year Helicobacter pylori has been confirmed as the most important risk factor for non‐cardia gastric adenocarcinomas and gastric mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. Eradication therapy has been proven to be beneficial when given prior to the development of intestinal metaplasia, but is less efficacious when administered later. However, the best data from clinical trials indicate that H. pylori eradication alone will have only a moderate effect on gastric cancer incidence worldwide. The mechanisms responsible for H. pylori‐associated gastric carcinogenesis continue to be dissected. Accumulating evidence suggests that some H. pylori may be able to invade through the gastric epithelial barrier, though pro‐carcinogenic effects may also be related to the complex and evolving pathways of altering signal transduction pathways within gastric epithelial cells that are stimulated by adherence and translocation of H. pylori products through its type IV secretory system. Determinants of the host response to H. pylori infection continue to focus on polymorphisms in genes related to the innate and acquired immune responses, including NOD2, COX‐2, and TLR‐4. H. pylori eradication is indicated for low‐grade gastric B‐cell MALT lymphoma and may even provide “cure” in some apparently H. pylori‐negative cases. How and why does H. pylori promote lymphomagenesis? Some evidence from human and murine models points to specific chromosomal translocations and host genetic polymorphisms as relating to the outcome of infection. Finally, Helicobacter hepaticus infection has been linked to both intestinal and breast tumorigenesis in susceptible strains of female mice – a provocative and novel finding warranting further investigation.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: Reversing the Risk Factor Paradox: Is Daily Nocturnal Hemodialysis the Solution?
Authors: Pauly Robert P. , Chan Christopher T. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractReverse epidemiology or risk factor paradox refers to observations that traditional cardiovascular risk factors may not portend the same poor outcomes in the end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) population, and may even be protective. If the underlying cause of this paradox is the “unphysiology” of the uremic milieu, as exemplified by the malnutrition‐inflammation‐complex syndrome, oxidative stress, and other aberrations of normal physiology, we propose that correcting this “unphysiology” could normalize the relationship between the traditional risk factors and their corresponding outcomes. In this review we summarize the growing body of evidence suggesting that daily nocturnal hemodialysis (NHD), a novel intensive form of home‐based renal replacement therapy, normalizes many physiological processes, in an effort to support the hypothesis that NHD may reverse the risk factor paradox.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: It Is Important to Lower Homocysteine in Dialysis Patients
Authors: Zoccali Carmine , Mallamaci Francesca , Tripepi Giovanni 
Published: August 2007

AbstractHomocysteine has been implicated in atherosclerotic and thrombotic vascular disease in the general and in the end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) population as well. Although not strong, the risk associated with raised homocysteine (25% risk excess for a 5 μm increase) is quite consistent across studies in the general population. Likewise, individuals harboring a polymorphism leading to higher homocysteine levels coherently display an increased risk for cardiovascular events in comparison with individuals without such a polymorphism. Randomized controlled trials of homocysteine‐lowering therapy performed so far failed to prove causality but the size effect of these interventions is still compatible with the hypothesis that reducing the plasma levels of this aminoacid may be beneficial. In ESRD, high homocysteine is a coherent predictor of death and adverse cardiovascular events in patients without malnutrition and inflammation. In the sole randomized placebo‐controlled study performed in this population folic acid produced a small beneficial effect which, because of the lack of power, failed to achieve statistical significance. In another randomized study testing the effect of a well established homocysteine‐lowering agent, N‐acetyl‐cysteine, a 40% reduction in cardiovascular events was observed. There is still insufficient knowledge to draw definitive conclusions on the causal implication of homocysteine in the high risk of ESRD. The contention that the homocysteine pathway cannot be used for interventions aimed at curbing cardiovascular risk in this population is, at least by now, unwarranted.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: Reverse Epidemiology beyond Dialysis Patients: Chronic Heart Failure, Geriatrics, Rheumatoid Arthritis, COPD, and AIDS
Authors: Horwich Tamara B. , Fonarow Gregg C. 
Published: August 2007

Abstract“Reverse epidemiology” refers to paradoxical and counterintuitive epidemiologic associations between survival outcomes and traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Reverse epidemiology has been well described in end stage renal disease, but also has been observed in chronic disease states, including chronic heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and in elderly populations. This review will highlight the recent medical literature on reverse epidemiology in these populations. Common pathophysiologic underpinnings in these chronic disease states may help explain the reversal of risk factors observed in these diverse populations. Furthermore, guidelines for the general population for optimal goals of weight, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure may not apply to special populations, including patients with chronic diseases or elderly persons.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: Body Mass Index and Peritoneal Dialysis: “Exceptions to the Exception” in Reverse Epidemiology?
Authors: Abbott Kevin C. , Oliver David K. , Hurst Frank P. , Das Neal P. , Gao Sam W. , Perkins Robert M. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractUntil recently, it was not apparent whether apparent paradoxical associations of body mass index (BMI), lipids, and blood pressure with survival observed in hemodialysis (HD) patients, which contradict observations from the general population, also applied to peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Studies of survival in PD patients must account for differences in adjusted survival relative to HD patients, namely, early equivalent to superior survival, but after about 1–2 years, inferior survival. Several recent observational studies have analyzed the association between BMI and survival in PD patients from different perspectives and using different patient populations. In general, these studies found that any survival advantage associated with obesity is significantly less likely in PD than HD patients. Among PD patients, those who are obese can be said to have equivalent survival to PD patients with normal BMI. Studies of lipids and blood pressure in PD patients also yield conflicting associations with survival. Obese patients, especially if diabetic, may have increased risk of death after starting on PD compared to HD, although firm conclusions are premature given the limitations of current evidence. At present, the levels of lipids and blood pressure which are best associated with survival in PD patients are not well‐defined.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: Obesity‐Survival Paradox—Still a Controversy?
Authors: Schmidt Darren S. , Salahudeen Abdulla K. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractSince the original description of the obesity‐survival paradox in 1999, which suggested a survival advantage for overweight and obese patients undergoing hemodialysis, a large body of evidence supporting the paradox has accumulated. The reason for the paradox has yet to be defined. Better nutrition may be a partial explanation, or it may be that in uremic milieu, excessive fat and surplus calories might confer some survival advantage. The “surplus calorie theory” as a potential mechanism for the paradox is of great interest. If proven to be correct, it might explain why peritoneal dialysis patients who receive excessive calories through dialysis do not exhibit the paradox and, secondly and more importantly, therapy could be directed to enhance a greater caloric intake by renal failure patients to engender a better survival outcome. Finally, other clinical settings, for example, congestive heart failure, have their own obesity‐survival paradox. Thus, the paradox appears to be a wider phenomenon and might merely be the external expression of a larger principle yet to be uncovered.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND SURVIVAL PARADOXES IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: Is There a Reversal of Reverse Epidemiology in Renal Transplant Recipients?
Authors: Chavalitdhamrong Disaya , Danovitch Gabriel M. , Bunnapradist Suphamai 
Published: August 2007

AbstractSimilar to the general population, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with a functioning renal graft. Recent studies have shown an inverse relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes in dialysis patients. Low blood pressure, low body mass index (BMI) and low serum cholesterol levels are correlated with a higher risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in dialysis patients. The explanation for these observations is unclear. In renal transplant recipients (RTR), these parameters are correlated with a lower risk of cardiovascular adverse outcomes, a phenomenon labeled as “reversal of reverse epidemiology.” The aims of this review are: (1) to explore the association between cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes in RTR; (2) to assess whether these effects are reversal of the reverse epidemiology in dialysis predecessors; and (3) to determine the strategies for minimizing cardiovascular risk in RTR. This article also compares the determinants of cardiovascular risk factors among the general population, maintenance dialysis patients and RTR. Because definitive evidence on optimal intervention is lacking, population‐specific clinical trials are needed to define optimum targets for treatment of these risk factors in maintenance dialysis patients and RTR separately.
The Topography of Presence: Bonnefoy and the Spatialization of Poetry
Authors: Argyros Alex 
Published: August 2007

SummaryCritics have usually read Bonnefoy's poetry as a kind of writing seeking its own annihilation in the face of presence. Using Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve as a laboratory, this paper sets two goals for itself: One, to investigate the theoretical rigor of the critical concepts presupposed by both Bonnefoy himself and his most influential readers. Two, to analyze a typical Bonnefoy poem in the attempt to demonstrate that it in fact doesn't reduce itself in the service of the extra‐textual. Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve is an elegant example of the recalcitrance of poetry. It refuses to be subsumed into that version of Hegelian dialectics that most critics of Bonnefoy's work have tended to use, either explicitly or implicitly, as a theoretical infrastructure upon which to situate the poem. Instead, it perforais its resistance to speculative negation by thematizing its own linguistic materiality.
Die Zerknirschung des Herzens –über Erinnerung und Grausamkeit im Werk von Peter Weiss
Authors: Sebald W. G. 
Published: August 2007

SummaryAuf den nachstehenden Seiten geht es um den Versuch, einige Hypothesen zu dem im bildnerischen wie literarischen Werk von Peter Weiss so prävalenten Phänomen der Grausamkeit zu entwickeln. So grundlegende Bezüge wie die zwischen Wahrheitssuche und Grausamkeit einerseits und zwischen Grausamkeit und Erinnerungsvermögen andererseits kommen dabei zur Sprache, sowie auch die solchen extremen Spannungen entsprechenden ästhetischen Konzeptionen. Kunst als die Selbstzerstörung des künstlerischen Subjekts erscheint dabei als ein Paradigma der zur Debatte stehenden Komplexion.L'homme a des endroits de son pauvre coeur qui n 'existent pas encore et où la douleur entre afin qu'ils soient.Léon Bloy
Chronic Lead Exposure May be Associated with Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Anis Tarek H. , ElKaraksy Ahmed , Mostafa Taymour , Gadalla Amr , Imam Hager , Hamdy Lamya , Abu el-Alla Omayma 
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Heavy metals constitute significant potential threats to human health in both occupational and environmental settings. Research examining the etiology of lead toxicity-induced hypertension reveals that the free radical production and lowering of inherent antioxidant reserves resulting from lead toxicity are directly related to vasoconstriction underlying lead-induced hypertension. A similar mechanism would affect smooth muscle relaxation in the cavernous tissue leading to erectile dysfunction (ED).

Aim
Is to study the possible hazardous effect of chronic lead exposure on the erectile function, and to document the deposition of lead in the cavernous tissue.

Methods
The study group consisted of 34 men with ED, consecutively scheduled for penile implant insertion at Cairo University Hospital, as well as 15 controls. We determined the blood lead level for the two groups by the use of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Sixteen of the 34 patients, and none of the 15 controls, had elevated lead serum levels (above 25 [g/dL]).

Main Outcome Measures
We estimated the levels of two reactive oxygen species (ROS) and four antioxidants in peripheral blood for the two groups. At the time of penile implant insertion, we prepared cavernous tissue paraffin sections stained with Mallory–Parker stain to study lead deposition. We also prepared ultrathin sections for electron microscopy. We estimated cavernous tissue lead level.

Results
The ED group had significantly higher blood lead level when compared with the control group. A significant positive correlation was found between the blood lead level and cavernous tissue lead level of the ED group. Individuals with high blood lead had significantly higher levels of serum ROS and significantly lower levels of serum antioxidants, compared with those having low blood lead. Histological sections from patients with high blood lead showed deposition of grayish lead granules in the cavernous tissue.

Conclusions
Chronic lead exposure may be associated with ED.
EQAS for peripheral blood morphology in Spain: a 6‐year experience
Authors: GUTIÉRREZ G. , MERINO A. , DOMINGO A. , JOU J. M. , REVERTER J. C. 
Published: August 2007

SummaryThe Spanish haematology external quality assessment scheme (EQAS), established in 1984, is run by the Spanish Haematology and Haemotherapy Association (AEHH) [Quality Assurance in Health Care 3 (1991) 75] and functions to evaluate the quality and reproducibility of the assessment of diagnostic samples by clinical laboratories. The Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona (HCB) serves as the EQAS Coordination Centre and follows the guidelines established by the International Committee for Standardization in Haematology [Annali dell'Istituto superiore di Sanità 31 (1995) 95; International Journal of Hematology 68 (1998) 45]. During the period 2001–2006, replicates of 25 different blood films were sent to 604 EQAS participants for cell morphology evaluation. Some patient details corresponding to the samples were disclosed, such us age, sex, haemoglobin value and white blood cell count. The participants were asked to select up to four significant morphology features using a coding list, provided by the Coordination Centre, which included significant morphological alterations that appear in haematopoietic cells. For each survey, individual results were assessed against the morphological reference results (MRR) established by the Cytology Group of the AEHH (‘true’ answers). This paper describes the organization of the 6‐year‐long study and the evaluation of laboratory performance for blood smear interpretation by the Spanish haematology EQAS. Different performance levels were detected relative to the laboratory category. Laboratories providing services to hospitalized patients showed higher performances compared with laboratories providing services to nonhospitalized patients. Pathological lymphoid cells were the most difficult to identify by the participants. To improve the results in EQAS peripheral blood morphology, the development of specific cytology educational trainings is discussed.
What Is ‘Body Work’? A Review of the Literature
Authors: Gimlin Debra 
Published: August 2007

Abstract Lyon and Barbalet (1994), Kang (2003), Wolkowitz (2002, 2006), and others have proposed the concept of ‘body work’ as a means for further developing the sociology of the body. This article gives an overview of the different (although frequently overlapping) forms of body work that have been identified in the sociological literature. These include a notion of body work as (i) the work performed on one's own body, (ii) paid labor carried out on the bodies of others, (iii) the management of embodied emotional experience and display, and (iv) the production or modification of bodies through work. The article concludes with suggestions for the future of research on body work and the sociology of the body.
Gas exchange and resource utilization in two alpine oaks at different altitudes in the Hengduan Mountains
Authors: Zhang Shi-Bao , Zhou Zhe-Kun , Hu Hong , Xu Kun 
Published: August 2007

The evergreen sclerophyllous broadleaf forests composed of alpine oaks in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China are mainly distributed at altitudes of 1700–4800 m. Gas exchange and related leaf traits of Quercus guyavifolia H. Lév. and Quercus pannosa Hand.-Mazz. were measured at eight sites along an altitudinal gradient to understand their physiological adaptabilities. Both Q. guyavifolia and Q. pannosa showed a significant midday depression in the photosynthesis rate (PN) due to a high vapor pressure deficit and high temperature around noon. The optimum temperature for photosynthesis for the two oak species ranged from 17 to 23 °C depending on altitude. When the temperature exceeded 25 °C, PN decreased sharply. However, PN was not depressed by high irradiance. As altitude increased, the leaf dry mass per unit area of the two oaks increased but the chlorophyll content decreased, while the maximum values of daily mean photosynthesis rate (Pd), maximum photosynthesis rate (Pmax), Pd/Pmax, water-use efficiency, and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency occurred at altitudes of 3240–3610 m. Although the photosynthetic capacities of the two oaks were higher in August than in May, altitudinal trends did not change with season. The altitudinal range from 3240 to 3610 m would be optimal for the growth and development of these two alpine oaks in the Hengduan Mountains.
Sapwood moisture in Douglas-fir boles and seasonal changes in soil water
Authors: Beedlow Peter A. , Tingey David T. , Lee E. Henry , Phillips Donald L. , Andersen Christian P. , Waschmann Ronald S. , Johnson Mark G. 
Published: August 2007

Large conifers, such as Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii), purportedly draw on water stored in their boles during periods of summer drought. The relation of seasonal changes in soil moisture to sapwood water content was evaluated in four forest stands dominated by mature Douglas-fir along a transect from the Pacific Coast to 1200 m in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon, USA. The sites varied in stand age, elevation, topography, and soil characteristics, including available soil water capacity. At two sites, gravimetric measures of sapwood relative water content (SRWC) were taken approximately every 4 weeks from May 2002 through July 2004; two additional sites were similarly measured from February 2003 through July 2004. Automated meteorological stations located on the sites and in adjacent open areas continuously monitored weather and soil moisture. Plant-available soil water (ASW) in the upper 0.6 m of soil reached minimum values during the summer drought and rewetted during fall and winter. Large seasonal changes in ASW did not result in corresponding changes in SRWC. Minimum SRWC was lower at sites with higher ASW. At all sites, Douglas-fir trees apparently regulate water loss to maintain consistent (±10%) bole water content throughout the year despite large changes in soil moisture.
Discourse, Syntax, and Prosody: The Brain Reveals an Immediate Interaction
Authors: Kerkhofs Roel , Vonk Wietske , Schriefers Herbert , Chwilla Dorothee J. 
Published: August 2007

Abstract
Speech is structured into parts by syntactic and prosodic breaks. In locally syntactic ambiguous sentences, the detection of a syntactic break necessarily follows detection of a corresponding prosodic break, making an investigation of the immediate interplay of syntactic and prosodic information impossible when studying sentences in isolation. This problem can be solved, however, by embedding sentences in a discourse context that induces the expectation of either the presence or the absence of a syntactic break right at a prosodic break. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were compared to acoustically identical sentences in these different contexts. We found in two experiments that the closure positive shift, an ERP component known to be elicited by prosodic breaks, was reduced in size when a prosodic break was aligned with a syntactic break. These results establish that the brain matches prosodic information against syntactic information immediately.