bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Seminal vesicle‐sparing perineal radical prostatectomy improves early functional results in patients with low‐risk prostate cancer
Authors: Albers Peter , Schäfers Sebastian , Löhmer Hans , De Geeter Patrick 
Published: September 2007

OBJECTIVETo report a new and improved seminal vesicle‐sparing (SV) technique of radical perineal prostatectomy (RPP) as an option for patients with localized prostate cancer, which is currently competing with the retropubic RP (RRP), endoscopic and robotic approaches.PATIENTS AND METHODSFrom July 2003 to July 2006, 507 RPs were undertaken within a three‐arm, unrandomized phase II trial. Patients were selected for RPP if they had a prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level of ≤10 ng/mL, a Gleason sum of ≤7 and a prostate volume of ≤50 mL. This group was randomly divided in those having SV‐RPP (147 men) and a classical RPP (171); men in the third group with adverse factors were offered a classical RRP (190). The main endpoint of the trial was the early continence rate at 4 weeks after surgery.RESULTSThe oncological outcome of patients treated with SV‐RPP was no different from that of RPP or RRP. Continence rates (0–1 pad/day) at 4 weeks and 12 months after SV‐RPP were 61.7% and 96.3%, respectively, and significantly higher than with RPP (P < 0.023) and RRP (P < 0.005). The transfusion rates (3.4%), anastomotic leaks (6.6%) and mean operative duration (90 min) were significantly lower.CONCLUSIONSSV‐RPP is a better technique in reducing complications during and after surgery for selected patients. Leaving the SV in place did not increase the short‐term PSA relapse rates. As the operation was significantly faster and with better early recovery, SV‐RPP might be justified if the long‐term oncological data confirm the efficacy of the approach.
Alleviating peanut allergy using genetic engineering: the silencing of the immunodominant allergen Ara h 2 leads to its significant reduction and a decrease in peanut allergenicity
Authors: Dodo Hortense W. , Konan Koffi N. , Chen Fur C. , Egnin Marceline , Viquez Olga M. 
Published: September 2007

SummaryPeanut allergy is one of the most life‐threatening food allergies and one of the serious challenges facing the peanut and food industries. Current proposed solutions focus primarily on ways to alter the immune system of patients allergic to peanut. However, with the advent of genetic engineering novel strategies can be proposed to solve the problem of peanut allergy from the source. The objectives of this study were to eliminate the immunodominant Ara h 2 protein from transgenic peanut using RNA interference (RNAi), and to evaluate the allergenicity of resulting transgenic peanut seeds. A 265‐bp‐long PCR product was generated from the coding region of Ara h 2 genomic DNA, and cloned as inverted repeats in pHANNIBAL, an RNAi‐inducing plant transformation vector. The Ara h 2‐specific RNAi transformation cassette was subcloned into a binary pART27 vector to construct plasmid pDK28. Transgenic peanuts were produced by infecting peanut hypocotyl explants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA 105 harbouring the pDK28 construct. A total of 59 kanamycin‐resistant peanut plants were regenerated with phenotype and growth rates comparable to wild type. PCR and Southern analyses revealed that 44% of plants stably integrated the transgene. Sandwich ELISA performed using Ara h 2‐mAbs revealed a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in Ara h 2 content in several transgenic seeds. Western immunobloting performed with Ara h 2‐mAb corroborated the results obtained with ELISA and showed absence of the Ara h 2 protein from crude extracts of several transgenic seeds of the T0 plants. The allergenicity of transgenic peanut seeds expressed as IgE binding capacity was evaluated by ELISA using sera of patients allergic to peanut. The data showed a significant decrease in the IgE binding capacity of selected transgenic seeds compared to wild type, hence, demonstrating the feasibility of alleviating peanut allergy using the RNAi technology.
THRESHOLD CONSIDERATIONS IN FAIR ALLOCATION OF HEALTH RESOURCES: JUSTICE BEYOND SCARCITY
Authors: ALVAREZ ALLEN ANDREW A. 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTApplication of egalitarian and prioritarian accounts of health resource allocation in low‐income countries have both been criticized for implying distribution outcomes that allow decreasing/undermining health gains and for tolerating unacceptable standards of health care and health status that result from such allocation schemes. Insufficient health care and severe deprivation of health resources are difficult to accept even when justified by aggregative efficiency or legitimized by fair deliberative process in pursuing equality and priority oriented outcomes. I affirm the sufficientarian argument that, given extreme scarcity of public health resources in low‐income countries, neither health status equality between populations nor priority for the worse off is normatively adequate. Nevertheless, the threshold norm alone need not be the sole consideration when a country's total health budget is extremely scarce. Threshold considerations are necessary in developing a theory of fair distribution of health resources that is sensitive to the lexically prior norm of sufficiency. Based on the intuition that shares must not be taken away from those who barely achieve a minimal level of health, I argue that assessments based on standards of minimal physical/mental health must be developed to evaluate the sufficiency of the total resources of health systems in low‐income countries prior to pursuing equality, priority, and efficiency based resource allocation. I also begin to examine how threshold sensitive health resource assessment could be used in the Philippines.
FROZEN EMBRYOS, GENETIC INFORMATION AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Authors: CHAN SARAH , QUIGLEY MUIREANN 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTRecent ethical and legal challenges have arisen concerning the rights of individuals over their IVF embryos, leading to questions about how, when the wishes of parents regarding their embryos conflict, such situations ought to be resolved. A notion commonly invoked in relation to frozen embryo disputes is that of reproductive rights: a right to have (or not to have) children. This has sometimes been interpreted to mean a right to have, or not to have, one's own genetic children. But can such rights legitimately be asserted to give rise to claims over embryos? We examine the question of property in genetic material as applied to gametes and embryos, and whether rights over genetic information extend to grant control over IVF embryos. In particular we consider the purported right not to have one's own genetically related children from a property‐based perspective. We argue that even if we concede that such (property) rights do exist, those rights become limited in scope and application upon engaging in reproduction. We want to show that once an IVF embryo is created for the purpose of reproduction, any right not to have genetically‐related children that may be based in property rights over genetic information is ceded. There is thus no right to prevent one's IVF embryos from being brought to birth on the basis of a right to avoid having one's own genetic children. Although there may be reproductive rights over gametes and embryos, these are not grounded in genetic information.
MORAL STATUS OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS: PERSPECTIVE OF AN AFRICAN VILLAGER
Authors: TANGWA GODFREY B. 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTOne of the most important as well as most awesome achievements of modern biotechnology is the possibility of cloning human embryonic stem cells, if not human beings themselves. The possible revolutionary role of such stem cells in curative, preventive and enhancement medicine has been voiced and chorused around the globe. However, the question of the moral status of embryonic stem cells has not been clearly and unequivocally answered. Taking inspiration from the African adage that ‘the hand that reaches beneath the incubating hen is not guiltless’, I attempt answering this question, from the background of traditional African moral sensibility and sensitivity. I reach the following conclusions. Stem cells in themselves do not have human status and therefore lack moral worth/value. Embryos do have human status and a morally significant line cannot be drawn between human embryos and other human beings. What is morally at stake in stem cell research is therefore the question of the source of derivation or generation of the cells, not of the cells as such.
POSTMENOPAUSAL MOTHERHOOD: IMMORAL, ILLEGAL? A CASE STUDY
Authors: CUTAS DANIELA 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTThe paper explores the ethics of post‐menopausal motherhood by looking at the case of Adriana Iliescu, the oldest woman ever to have given birth (so far 1). To this end, I will approach the three most common objections brought against the mother and/or against the team of healthcare professionals who made it happen: the age of the mother, the fact that she is single, the appropriateness of her motivation and of that of the medical team.
Discourse, Learning and Welfare State Change: The Case of German Labour Market Reforms
Authors: Seeleib‐Kaiser Martin , Fleckenstein Timo 
Published: September 2007

Abstract In this article we argue that Germany has significantly changed its approach to labour market policies (LMPs) during the past decade; in many instances Britain has served as a model to learn from. In a first step, we identify the core institutional arrangements of the conservative approach to LMP in Germany and contrast them with the liberal approach, using the UK as an example. Secondly, we trace the development and nature of changes in German LMP since the 1990s. We show that the policy has increasingly incorporated elements of, and to a considerable extent shifted towards, a liberal approach. Thirdly, we review competing theoretical approaches that might explain this turn in LMP and conclude that changed interpretative patterns have been crucial to understand the overall shift. Fourthly, utilizing the policy transfer framework, we show that in regards to the specific policy instruments German policy‐makers have learnt from the experiences in the UK.
Pension Reforms in Europe and Life‐course Politics
Authors: Maier Robert , De Graaf Willibrord , Frericks Patricia 
Published: September 2007

AbstractIn recent years, somewhat drastic pension reforms have taken place in all European countries. The pension systems developed in the last century are no longer considered to be suited to the changing demographic constellations in European countries, and the financial sustainability of these systems is under threat. Moreover, the changing political and economic set‐up in European countries is also used to justify reforming the different pension systems. Different reasons can be given to explain the various pension reform measures without, however, there being any integrated coherence. We suggest that a politics of social policy, and of pension policy in particular, based on a life‐course perspective, facilitates the understanding of the whole range of pension reform measures. In the past, the elaborated pension systems were attuned to a normative standard biography. A new standard biography, with different phases and more transitions and combinations, enables one to understand the variety of the ongoing pension reform measures. Such a life‐course perspective integrates sequences of learning, working and caring considered necessary for the polity. In other words, it is based on a conception of human potential, and it integrates, to some extent, the previously separate domains of labour market policy, education policy, care policy and pension policy. However, recent theoretical and empirical studies of the life course lead to a critical evaluation of the new standard biography, with the conclusion that the new standard is one‐sided and scientifically unsound, entailing challenges for social policy.
Hypothalamic neuronal histamine mediates the thyrotropin‐releasing hormone‐induced suppression of food intake1
Authors: Gotoh Koro , Fukagawa Koji , Fukagawa Tomiyo , Noguchi Hitoshi , Kakuma Tetsuya , Sakata Toshiie , Yoshimatsu Hironobu 
Published: September 2007

AbstractWe examined the involvement of thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH) and TRH type 1 and 2 receptors (TRH‐R1 and TRH‐R2, respectively) in the regulation of hypothalamic neuronal histamine. Infusion of 100 nmol TRH into the rat third cerebroventricle (3vt) significantly decreased food intake (p < 0.05) compared to controls infused with phosphate‐ buffered saline. This TRH‐induced suppression of food intake was attenuated partially in histamine‐depleted rats pre‐treated with α‐fluoromethylhistidine (a specific suicide inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase) and in mice with targeted disruption of histamine H1 receptors. Infusion of TRH into the 3vt increased histamine turnover as assessed by pargyline‐induced accumulation of tele‐methylhistamine (t‐MH, a major metabolite of neuronal histamine in the brain) in the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), the paraventricular nucleus, and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in rats. In addition, TRH‐induced decrease of food intake and increase of histamine turnover were in a dose‐dependent manner. Microinfusion of TRH into the TMN increased t‐MH content, histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activity and expression of HDC mRNA in the TMN. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that TRH‐R2, but not TRH‐R1, was expressed within the cell bodies of histaminergic neurons in the TMN of rats. These results indicate that hypothalamic neuronal histamine mediates the TRH‐induced suppression of feeding behavior.
Evidence of Aβ‐ and transgene‐dependent defects in ERK‐CREB signaling in Alzheimer’s models
Authors: Ma Qiu‐Lan , Harris‐White Marni E. , Ubeda Oliver J. , Simmons Mychica , Beech Walter , Lim Giselle P. , Teter Bruce , Frautschy Sally A. , Cole Greg M. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractExtracellular‐signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling is critical for memory and tightly regulated by acute environmental stimuli. In Alzheimer disease transgenic models, active ERK is shown to first be increased, then later reduced, but whether these baseline changes reflect disruptions in ERK signaling is less clear. We investigated the influence of the familial Alzheimer’s disease transgene APPsw and β‐amyloid peptide (Aβ) immunoneutralization on cannulation injury‐associated (i.c.v. infusion) ERK activation. At both 12 and 22 months of age, the trauma‐associated activation of ERK observed in Tg− mice was dramatically attenuated in Tg+. In cortices of 22‐month‐old non‐infused mice, a reduction in ERK activation was observed in Tg+, relative to Tg− mice. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) anti‐Aβ infusion significantly increased phosphorylated ERK, its substrate cAMP‐response element‐binding protein (CREB) and a downstream target, the NMDA receptor subunit. We also demonstrated that Aβ oligomer decreased active ERK and subsequently active CREB in human neuroblastoma cells, which could be prevented by oligomer immunoneutralization. Aβ oligomers also inhibited active ERK and CREB in primary neurons, in addition to reducing the downstream post‐synaptic protein NMDA receptor subunit. These effects were reversed by anti‐oligomer. Our data strongly support the existence of an APPsw transgene‐dependent and Aβ oligomer‐mediated defect in regulation of ERK activation.
Time course of increased heme oxygenase activity and expression after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage: correlation with oxidative injury
Authors: Chen Mai , Regan Raymond F. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractHeme oxygenase (HO) activity in tissue adjacent to an intracerebral hematoma may modulate cellular vulnerability to heme‐mediated oxidative injury. Although HO‐1 is induced after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), the time course of this induction, its effect on tissue HO activity, and its association with oxidative injury markers has not been defined. We therefore quantified HO activity, HO‐1 expression, tissue heme content, and protein carbonylation for 8 days after injection of autologous blood into the mouse striatum. Increased striatal HO‐1 protein was observed within 24 h, peaked on day 5 at a level that was 10‐fold greater than baseline, and returned to baseline by day 8; HO‐2 expression was not altered. HO activity increased by only 1.6‐fold at its peak on day 5, and had also returned to baseline by day 8. A significant increase in protein carbonylation was observed at 3–5 days, which also was markedly attenuated by 8 days, concomitant with a return of tissue heme to near‐normal levels. These results suggest that the increase in HO activity in tissue surrounding an experimental ICH is considerably less than would be predicted based on an analysis of HO‐1 expression per se. As HO‐1 expression is temporally associated with increased tissue heme and increased protein carbonylation, it may be more useful as a marker of heme‐mediated oxidative stress in ICH models, rather than as an index of HO activity.
Neurodegerative dementias involving aberrant protein aggregation
Authors: KUDO Takashi , TANII Hisashi , TAKEDA Masatoshi 
Published: September 2007

AbstractRecently, it was shown that inclusion bodies consisting of aberrant protein aggregation are a common pathological finding in neurodegenerative dementias. It is also believed that the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) is involved in these aberrant aggregations. Because the UPS is related to the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through ER‐associated degradation (ERAD), we propose that the mechanism of neurodegeneration is as follows: (i) aberrant protein aggregation overloads the UPS; (ii) the disturbed UPS affects ERAD; (iii) disturbed ERAD impairs UPR; and (iv) prolonged UPR causes ER‐mediated apoptosis.
Local mechanisms for luteolysis in the cow: Novel roles of vasoactive substances in the luteolytic cascade within the corpus luteum
Authors: SHIRASUNA Koumei , MATSUI Motozumi , SHIMIZU Takashi , MIYAMOTO Akio 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTThe corpus luteum (CL) in the estrous cycle in the cow is a dynamic organ which has a lifespan of approximately 17–18 days. As the CL matures, the steroidogenic cells establish contact with many capillary vessels and the CL is composed of a large number of vascular endothelial cells that can account for up to 50% of the bovine CL. Furthermore, luteal cells and endothelial cells secrete several vasoactive substances such as prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), endothelin‐1 and angiotensin II. These vasoactive substances also function in regulating progesterone secretion in an autocrine/paracrine manner in the CL. The blood vessels and endothelial cells in the CL therefore have an essential role in the luteal function in the cow. Endometrial PGF2α, the primary luteolysin in the cow, stimulates luteal vasoactive substances during luteolysis. Moreover, luteal vasoactive substances may have key roles in the regulation of luteolysis to induce vasodilatation, vasoconstriction and angiolysis. This review describes the current concept for possible roles of vasoactive substances in the luteolytic cascade within the bovine CL.
Developmental changes in mRNA expression in immune‐associated cells of intestinal tract of broiler chickens after hatch and by dietary modification
Authors: MIYAZAKI Yuu , TAKAHASHI Kazuaki , AKIBA Yukio 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTDevelopmental changes in the immune‐related cells of the gut during the first 2 weeks post hatching were determined in broiler chickens fed a corn–soybean meal (CS) based diet, a semi‐purified diet with high fat (HF) and a high carbohydrate (HC) diet. The expression of CD3 and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) mRNA increased during 3–7 days of age. When the chicks were fed the CS diet, the expression of interleukin‐2 mRNA in the foregut did not increase with age. The expression of iNOS mRNA was lowered at 3 days of age in the fore‐ and mid gut but the expression was constant at the other days of age. TLR‐2 mRNA expression increased in three section of the gut during 3–7 days of age, while TLR‐4 expression increased during 0–3 days of age. Chicks fed the HC diet showed higher interleukin‐2 but lower IFN‐γ mRNA expression than birds fed the CS diet. Feeding the HF diet tended to decrease the expressions determined. These findings suggest that the functional maturation of the T cell does not always correlate with an increase in T cell numbers, maturation of innate immunity may occur earlier than that of T cells and possibly the dietary composition modifies the developmental pattern.
Comparative study on hypocholesterolemic effect of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodobacter capsulatus on rats fed a high cholesterol diet
Authors: TSUJII Hirotada , NISHIOKA Masahiro , SALMA Ummay , MIAH Abdul G. , MAKI Takaaki , LEE Myung G. 
Published: September 2007

ABSTRACTThis comparative study was to investigate the hypocholesterolemic effects of dietary Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodobacter capsulatus on rats fed a high cholesterol diet. Thirty male Wister–Imamichi rats were assigned to three groups and fed on either a high cholesterol diet, or a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 2.0% R. palustris or R. capsulatus for 4 weeks. Compared to the control diet, both of the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets significantly reduced the serum cholesterol, triglycerides, low‐density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol and hepatic triglycerides, but increased hepatic cholesterol in rats. In addition, both of the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, as the ratio of high density lipoprotein cholesterol to the total cholesterol was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). Both the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets led to an increase in the serum palmitic acid, compared with the oleic acid and linoleic acid. No significant differences were postulated between the rats fed R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets during the 4 weeks of the experimental period. Thus, the results may suggest that both R. palustris and R. capsulatus can contribute significant health benefits and seems to be feasible to investigate in future research.
The process followed in the development of the paediatric food‐based dietary guidelines for South Africa
Authors: Bourne Lesley T. , Marais Debbie , Love Penny 
Published: September 2007

AbstractIn 1996, a Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization expert panel proposed the development of food‐based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) that would be unique and specific to the needs of the populations of different countries. In 1997, a South African FBDG Working Group was initiated to develop a single set of FBDGs aimed at optimal nutrition for all South Africans older than 5 years. Thereafter, additional working groups investigated the development of FBDGs for specific priority groups including HIV/AIDS sufferers, the elderly, pregnant and lactating women and children under 5 years. This resulted in the formation of an expert paediatric FBDG Working Group in 2000, in Cape Town with the task to develop paediatric FBDGs (PFBDGs) for children younger than 5 years. However, it was decided to raise the 5‐year‐age limit to 7 years, which corresponds to one of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) cut‐offs for both genders and that would cover most pre‐schoolers. Ultimately, three age subcategories were identified for developing specific PFBDGs, i.e. 0–6 months, 6–12 months and 12–84 months. In May 2003, after thorough review of the relevant literature, discussions with various stakeholders and pre‐testing for comprehensibility, a set of preliminary PFBDGs for each of the subcategories was approved by the Working Group to be subjected to consumer testing. The proposed guidelines were considered to be the most appropriate ones for each age group, based on scientific and local evidence, and were evaluated utilizing qualitative methodologies. The results of these data are presented and discussed below. However, further testing is required for the diverse groups in the country.