bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neuromyelitis optica‐IgG in idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disorders amongst Hong Kong Chinese
Authors: Chan K. H. , Ramsden D. B. , Yu Y. L. , Kwok K. H. H. , Chu A. C. Y. , Ho P. W. L. , Kwan J. S. C. , Lee R. , Lim E. , Kung M. H. W. , Ho S. L. 
Published: December 2008

Background:  Idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disorders (IIDD) affect the central nervous system. In classical multiple sclerosis (CMS), brain, optic nerves [optic neuritis (ON)] and spinal cord [acute transverse myelitis (ATM)] are affected. In neuromyelitis optica (NMO), optic nerves and spinal cord are predominantly affected. NMO‐IgG, an autoantibody targeting aquaporin‐4, is a marker for NMO. We studied the frequency and clinical relevance of NMO‐IgG seropositivity in IIDD patients.Methods:  Neuromyelitis optica‐IgG was detected by indirect immunofluorescence using primate cerebellum.Results:  Neuromyelitis optica‐IgG was detected in six of 10 NMO patients (60%), six of 10 idiopathic relapsing transverse myelitis (IRTM) patients (60%), two of nine idiopathic relapsing ON patients (22%), one of 11 patients (9%) having single ON attack, one of 30 CMS patients (3%), and none of patients having single ATM attack or controls. Comparing NMO‐IgG seropositive (n = 12) with NMO‐IgG seronegative (n = 8) patients having NMO or IRTM, NMO‐IgG seropositivity was associated with a higher relapse rate in first 2 years, 1.5 and 0.6 attacks/year for seropositive and seronegative groups respectively (P = 0.006), and non‐significant trend towards more severe ON and myelitis with poorer clinical outcome.Conclusion:  Neuromyelitis optica ‐IgG facilitates diagnosis of NMO spectrum disorders. NMO‐IgG seropositivity is associated with higher relapse rate in first 2 years.
Glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe disease) – influence of enzyme replacement therapy in adults
Authors: Merk T. , Wibmer T. , Schumann C. , Krüger S. 
Published: December 2008

Background:  Pompe disease (Glycogen storage disorder type II) is an inherited disease because of a lack or reduced activity of the enzyme α‐1,4‐glucosidase (acid maltase). Since 2006, an intravenous enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with Myozyme™ (Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA, USA) is available.Methods:  Four adult patients aged between 39 and 68 years received ERT over a period of 6 months. Clinical and functional parameters were registered longitudinally.Results:  In three patients, a considerable improvement of symptoms could be noticed, patients with pre‐existing respiratory insufficiency seemed to profit most. In all patients, a continuous decrease of initially raised laboratory parameters (creatine kinase, lactic dehydrogenase, transaminases) was striking.Conclusions:  Enzyme replacement therapy seems to be a long‐term effective therapy in adult patients with Pompe disease. Whether all patients will profit from an improvement of symptoms or at least a stabilisation of the otherwise progressive disease is currently not definitively clear.
Correlation of anatomy and function in medulla oblongata infarction
Authors: Eggers C. , Fink G. R. , Möller‐Hartmann W. , Nowak D. A. 
Published: December 2008

Background:  A presentation of all aspects of the dorsolateral medulla oblongata syndrome is clinically very rare to find. In most cases patients present with fragmentary symptoms, e.g. ipsilateral axial lateropulsion, nystagmus, dysarthria, dysphagia or hemiataxia. However, the clinical presentation and lesion anatomy at the level of the medulla oblongata is still unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was to correlate the functional deficit with structural MRI‐data.Methods:  We included thirteen patients (eight male, five female, mean age 65.5) with medulla oblongata infarction with clinically predominant ipsilateral axial lateropulsion and correlated clinical with structural deficits.Results:  Magnetic resonance imaging lesion mapping demonstrated ipsilateral axial lateropulsion to result from lesions of the spinocerebellar tract, the inferior cerebellar peduncle or the inferior vestibular nucleus. Nystagmus was associated with lesions of the inferior vestibular nucleus, dissociated sensory loss with the spinothalamic tract and hemiataxia with the spinocerebellar tract.Conclusions:  Correlating dysfunction and lesion anatomy is a promising approach to enhance our knowledge on medulla oblongata topography.
Changes in striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding in pre‐clinical Huntington’s disease
Authors: Van Oostrom J.C.H. , Dekker M. , Willemsen A.T.M. , De Jong B.M. , Roos R.A.C. , Leenders K.L. 
Published: December 2008

Background:  Carriers of the Huntington disease (HD) mutation develop a progressive neurodegenerative disorder after a pre‐clinical phase. We examined the value of 11C‐raclopride PET (RAC) as a biomarker for pre‐clinical HD pathophysiology.Methods:  In a prospective cohort study with clinical and neuropsychological assessment we collected complete RAC data in 18 pre‐clinical mutation carriers (HD‐PMC) and 11 controls. Follow‐up was 2 years. We calculated striatal RAC binding potential (BP) to measure dopamine D2 receptor availability.Results:  No HD‐PMC had overt neuropsychological dysfunction. RAC‐BP in putamen was abnormal in up to 44% of HD‐PMC. The rate of RAC‐BP decline (2.6% per year) was not significantly higher than in controls. Follow‐up putaminal BP correlated weakly with predicted distance to onset of clinical HD (P = 0.034), but the rate of decline did not. Three HD‐PMC developed motor abnormalities suspect for HD but did not show an increased rate of decline of putaminal BP.Conclusions:  Many HD‐PMC have striatal abnormalities but we found no clearly increased rate of D2 receptor changes around the onset of clinical HD. A longer follow‐up of the present study cohort is needed to establish the value of RAC‐BP in assessing the risk of clinical conversion from striatal D2 binding data.
Clinical study and PLA2G6 mutation screening analysis in Chinese patients with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy
Authors: Wu Y. , Jiang Y. , Gao Z. , Wang J. , Yuan Y. , Xiong H. , Chang X. , Bao X. , Zhang Y. , Xiao J. , Wu X. 
Published: December 2008

Background and purpose:  Infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder. The most typical neuropathological finding of this disease is axonal swelling. Before the identification of associated mutations in PLA2G6‐encoding iPLA2‐VIA (cytosolic Ca2+‐independent phospholipids A2, group VIA) in 2006, neuropathological evidence was critical for definitive diagnosis. Only five genetic studies in INAD patients have been published worldwide, wherein 44 mutations were reported. To define the clinical and genetic characteristics of Chinese patients with INAD, 10 cases were analyzed.Methods:  For 10 cases of INAD, extensive clinical investigations, neuropathological examination, and mutation screening in PLA2G6 were performed.Results:  All cases displayed typical clinical features. Axonal swelling was found in skin or sural nerve biopsy specimens in three cases. Twelve PLA2G6 mutations were identified, nine of which were novel. These novel mutations include six missense, one abolishing the normal start codon, one nonsense, and one splice‐site mutation.Conclusions:  The nine novel mutations identified in this study suggest the uniqueness of the PLA2G6 mutation spectrum in Chinese patients, and greatly extends the spectrum of known mutations in INAD patients. In addition to pathological evidence, genetic analysis can inform definitive diagnosis of INAD.
The ECB Governing Council in an Enlarged Euro Area*
Authors: BÉNASSY‐QUÉRÉ AGNÈS , TURKISCH EDOUARD 
Published: December 2008

AbstractWe study the impact of rotating votes in the ECB Governing Council after EMU enlargement, based on national and euro‐wide Taylor rules and on a convergence assumption. We find that the rotation system yields monetary policy decisions that are close both to full centralization and to a voting rule without rotations.
Bringing Macroeconomics into the EU Budget Debate: Why and How?
Authors: DULLIEN SEBASTIAN , SCHWARZER DANIELA 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe EMU has been designed without an instrument for automatic fiscal stabilization on the European level. This article highlights the seriousness of this lacuna by new empirical data, which suggest that fiscal stabilization at the national level has also worked insufficiently. This situation will hamper the EU's efforts to achieve the targets set by the Lisbon Agenda: recent theoretical contributions suggest that a positive macroeconomic environment is a prerequisite for productivity growth and structural reform which form the centrepiece of the Agenda. There are thus strong economic arguments for rethinking the set‐up for fiscal stabilization policies in the EMU. We suggest three remedies for the underperformance of the automatic stabilizers: making EU expenditure sensitive to the cyclical situation of the recipient country, introducing an EU corporate tax upon the upcoming revision of the EU budget before 2013 and/or setting up a European unemployment scheme.
All modes lead to home: assessing the state of the remittance art
Authors: YUJUICO EMMANUEL 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe art of sending remittances overlaps with migration, technological innovation and marketing – three of globalization's driving forces. All things being equal, the role of innovation with regard to remittances is to reduce transaction costs in making these transfers. Yet, other aspects of the marketing mix come into play apart from the price of sending remittances such as product user‐friendliness, the location of senders and beneficiaries, and the promotion of these technologies. In this article, I assess the state of the remittance art in terms of meeting the needs of remittance senders and beneficiaries and future directions that this domain may take due to further diffusion of innovations. Remittance technologies represent a promising direction in which cutting edge technology is harnessed to focus on developing world concerns. By enlisting the talents of the world's foremost product and service designers, private sector initiatives such as these can play a role in helping ease poverty's penalties.
Transnational childrearing and the preservation of transnational identity in Brazzaville, Congo
Authors: WHITEHOUSE BRUCE 
Published: December 2008

AbstractDrawing on ethnographic research conducted at two ends of an intra‐Africa migration flow (Mali and the Republic of Congo), in this article I examine the role of childrearing practices in the maintenance of transnationalism. I consider different approaches to transnational childrearing by migrant parents and their reasons for adopting them, and delineate three common modes. The most widespread and socially validated approach is to send children home from Congo to their parents’ places of origin, where child fostering is widespread, to be raised by relatives for long periods; this approach increases the durability of transnational ties. I use childrearing approaches as an analytical lens to demonstrate the complementarity of multiple forms of domestic organization, mobility and settlement in the inter‐generational production and transmission of durable transnational identities. By arguing for greater focus on phenomena such as transnational childrearing, I seek to promote a broader conceptualization of transnationalism.
Migration networks and policy impacts: insights from Romanian–Spanish migrations
Authors: ELRICK TIM , CIOBANU OANA 
Published: December 2008

AbstractMigration networks are now generally recognized as a means of adapting to or circumventing states’ migration policies, but little research has been carried out on quite how they work. In this article, we analyse migrant networks between Romanian and Spain over the last 20 years. We contrast two villages to reveal how different reactions to policy changes depend on the level of development of migration networks. Among these policy changes are regularizations of irregular migrants in Spain, the visa‐free entry of Romanians into Schengen countries enacted in 2002, EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007, and a bilateral agreement on labour recruitment between Romania and Spain. We conclude that networks can help migrants circumvent restrictive policies, foster the effective take‐up of permissive policies or even impede them, depending on the development of the migration networks of the communities.
Conservation biogeography of ecologically interacting species: the case of the Iberian lynx and the European rabbit
Authors: Real Raimundo , Barbosa A. Márcia , Rodríguez Alejandro , García Francisco J. , Vargas J. Mario , Palomo L. Javier , Delibes Miguel 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTAim  To relate the recent Iberian lynx decline to changes in the distribution of the European rabbit after the haemorrhagic disease outbreak of 1989. As Iberian rabbits evolved in two geographically separated lineages, being the recent lynx range practically restricted to the southwestern lineage, we also test if differential range dynamics exists for these lineages, with the consequent implications for lynx conservation and reintroduction planning.Location  The Iberian Peninsula.Methods  We modelled environmental favourability for the lynx based on its distribution before 1989, and for the rabbit using distribution data collected primarily after 1989, and validated them using independent abundance data. We compared both models and combined them in a lynx occurrence forecast. We correlated the prevalence of southwestern rabbit lineage with the environmental favourability for the rabbit.Results  The environmental lynx model correlated with past lynx abundance data, but did not reflect its recent strong range contraction. The rabbit model correlated with recent rabbit abundance, but was negatively correlated with the environmental model for the lynx. The combination of both models forecasted lynx occurrence in a few separated nuclei, which encompass all recent lynx records. The prevalence of rabbit's southwestern lineage correlated negatively with favourability for the rabbit.Main conclusions  The region to which the lynx became confined before 1989 is currently less favourable for rabbits, whereas more favourable areas remain outside lynx reach. This differential favourability correlates with rabbit phylogeographical structure, suggesting that the southwestern lineage is facing more unfavourable conditions or is less resilient to recent diseases. The loss of concordance between lynx distribution and the whole rabbit phylogeographical structure has prevented lynx persistence in northeastern rabbit lineage areas, which should be considered in lynx reintroduction planning. Similar conservation problems could affect other ecologically interacting species whose distributions’ overlapping has sharply diminished.
Beta diversity and taxonomic sufficiency: Do higher‐level taxa reflect heterogeneity in species composition?
Authors: Terlizzi Antonio , Anderson Marti J. , Bevilacqua Stanislao , Fraschetti Simonetta , Włodarska‐Kowalczuk Maria , Ellingsen Kari E. 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTAim  Virtually all studies exploring the use of taxonomic surrogates in assessing patterns of diversity have focused on clear shifts in the location of samples in multivariate space. The potential use of coarser levels of taxonomic resolution to detect patterns of variability in multivariate space, corresponding to β‐diversity in the case of presence/absence data, remains unexplored. Here we considered five ecological data sets of highly diverse marine molluscan assemblages to test the hypothesis that patterns in compositional heterogeneity would be maintained at coarser levels of taxonomic resolution.Location  Italy, Norway, New Zealand and the Arctic.Methods  We used multivariate dispersion based on the Jaccard resemblance measure of presence/absence data as a measure of β‐diversity to test the null hypothesis that patterns of heterogeneity in species composition for molluscs would be maintained at coarser levels of taxonomic resolution. Tests to compare β‐diversities among groups (based on distances to centroids and using 9999 permutations) were carried out separately for each of five data sets at the species level and then for each of genus, family, order and class levels.Results  Differences in multivariate dispersion at the species level (heterogeneity in the identities of species) were maintained for genera and for families, but not at coarser levels of taxonomic resolution (order or class). These results were consistent across all data sets, despite differences in their spatial scale and extent, geographical location, environmental and habitat features (benthic soft sediments, rocky reefs or kelp holdfasts).Main conclusions  These results suggest that either genera or families may be used as effective taxonomic surrogates to detect spatial differences in β‐diversity for molluscs. The use of surrogates can provide considerable sampling efficiencies for biodiversity assessments. We consider, however, that a degree of caution and more work is needed, as heterogeneity at the species level may not be reflected by taxonomic surrogates at smaller spatial scales.
Variability and reproducibility of hepatic FDG uptake measured as SUV as well as tissue‐to‐blood background ratio using positron emission tomography in healthy humans
Authors: Kanstrup Inge‐Lis , Klausen Thomas Levin , Bojsen‐Møller Jens , Magnusson Peter , Zerahn Bo 
Published: December 2008

SummaryIntroduction:  To investigate variability and reproducibility of hepatic [18F]‐2‐fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐d‐glucose (FDG) uptake in healthy individuals.Methods: Static images were obtained 70 min after the injection of 160 MBq FDG in six healthy subjects at two occasions with 13 days’ interval. FDG uptake was adjusted for tissue‐to‐blood background ratio (T/B), or measured as standardized uptake value (SUV). Small regions of interest (ROIs) of 10 cm3 in two different hepatic regions were analysed as well as the total liver.Results:  Mean SUV was 1·16 ± 0·15 and mean T/B corrected values was 1·87 ± 0·17. The maximal values were 2·70 (SUV) and 4·67 (T/B). Reproducibility was 6·7% for the mean SUV and 0·2% for the max SUV values. The corresponding figures for the T/B corrected mean values were 6·4% and for the max T/B values 13·0%. In general, the small ROIs had a comparable or even lower CV% for SUV values, but a higher CV% for T/B corrected values.Conclusions:  In normal subjects hepatic FDG‐uptake is high and homogeneous with a low CV% between days. T/B corrected values are largely comparable to SUV values but not superior, probably due to the standardization of procedures and homogeneity of the subjects. The T/B corrected method is theoretically superior in a more inhomogeneous population or when using different scanners and is shown here to be easy to apply. Small ROIs of 10 cm3 are representative with respect to mean FDG uptake in the total liver and reproducibility, but do not identify the max FDG uptake.
Mango Fufu Kimchi Yucca: The Depoliticization of “Diversity” in Washington, D.C. Discourse
Authors: MODAN GABRIELLA 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe rise of the commodified city has encouraged new attention to the symbolic systems that structure our understandings of difference and inequality in urban areas. This paper analyzes one of those systems, namely discourse. I examine how the term diversity has developed multiple meanings over the past 10 years in Mt. Pleasant, a gentrifying neighborhood in Washington, DC, and I trace these developments and their connections with changes in the local economy, politics, and demographics. In the mid‐1990s, diversity indexed community discourses about social justice and equal opportunity. Later, diversity began to signify a commodified resource. As real estate prices drastically rose, the term's meaning became associated with the “lifestylization” of urban space: Diversity has come to reference stimulating cultural experience, and is used to promote commercial investment in the neighborhood and sell upmarket real estate. Analyzing such shifts in discourse illuminates the micro‐mechanics of how local visions of multicultural urban spaces can lose their focus on justice and equality.
The Structuring of Feeling in Ghanaian Transnational Families
Authors: COE CATI 
Published: December 2008

AbstractStudies exploring the emotional experiences of members of transnational families have often highlighted the emotional suffering of mothers and children separated from one another as a result of transnational migration. Taking Ghana as a case example, this paper complicates this picture by showing how parents and children in Ghanaian transnational families have different emotional responses to their separation, in which the parents express less suffering over the situation than their children. Their different discourses about the goals for parent‐child relationships and their sense of agency in achieving these goals affect their expression of emotions. This paper argues that we need to pay attention to the ideologies and sense of agency of social actors in different social positions in order to understand the ways that transnational migration structures feelings.
Schizophrenia and physical health problems
Authors: Von Hausswolff‐Juhlin Y. , Bjartveit M. , Lindström E. , Jones P. 
Published: December 2008

Objective:  To estimate the prevalence of physical health problems in patients with schizophrenia, and to appraise the impact on mortality rates and quality of life (QoL) in such patients.Method:  A selective review of clinical articles relating to physical health such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and QoL. In addition, current guidelines and recommendations for the monitoring of physical health in schizophrenia were reviewed.Results:  Cardiovascular events contribute most strongly to the excess mortality observed in schizophrenia. Other factors that contribute significantly include obesity, metabolic aberrations, smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise and poor diet – all of which might be targets for health promoting activities.Conclusion:  Physical health problems in patients with schizophrenia are common, and contribute to the excess mortality rate, as well as decreasing QoL. Many adverse physical factors are malleable in such patients, and physical benefit may be gained by following practical guidelines for their monitoring and improvement.
Are culture‐expanded autogenous bone cells a clinically reliable option for sinus grafting?
Authors: Fuerst Gabor , Strbac Georg D. , Vasak Christoph , Tangl Stefan , Leber Johanna , Gahleitner Andre , Gruber Reinhard , Watzek Georg 
Published: December 2008

AbstractObjectives: This prospective clinical study was designed to examine the healing process during the first 12 months after sinus grafting (SG) with autogenous culture‐expanded bone cells (ABC) and bovine bone mineral (BBM) histomorphometrically and radiologically.Material and methods: Twenty‐two sinuses of 12 patients (mean age 56.2±9.3 years) were grafted. Four weeks before, SG bone biopsies were obtained with a trephine burr and the bone cells were isolated and expanded. Every sinus was grafted with BBM and ABC. After 6 months, a biopsy was taken from each sinus and implants (n=82) were placed. These were uncovered after another 6 months and fitted with dentures. The percent newly formed bone (NB) and the NB‐to‐BBM contact area were determined on undecalcified histologic sections. The sinus graft volume was evaluated by dental CT after SG (CT 1), after implant placement (CT 2) and after implant uncovery (CT 3).Results: Postoperative healing was uneventful. The NB was 17.9±4.6% and the contact area 26.8±13.1%. The graft volume (in mm3) was 2218.4±660.9 at the time of CT 1, 1694±470.4 at the time of CT 2 and 1347.9±376.3 at the time of CT 3 (P<.01). Three implants were lost after uncovery. Reimplantation and prosthodontic rehabilitation were successful throughout.Conclusions: These results suggest that SG with ABC and BBM in a clinical setting provides a bony implant site which permits implant placement and will tolerate functional loading.