bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A high‐throughput inducible RNAi vector for plants
Authors: Wielopolska Anna , Townley Helen , Moore Ian , Waterhouse Peter , Helliwell Chris 
Published: October 2005

SummaryWe describe here a vector system that allows dexamethasone‐inducible RNAi against plant genes. The system utilizes a modified pHELLSGATE vector, under the control of the pOp6 promoter, and the synthetic transcription factor, LhGR. We demonstrate that the production of RNAi‐inducing hairpin RNA from this system can be regulated by the application and removal of dexamethasone. Silencing of a target gene encoding phytoene desaturase was highly effective 24 h after application of dexamethasone. In the presence of the hormone silencing was maintained for at least 5 days while removal of the inducer resulted in significant recovery within 24 h. A transgene encoding luciferase was silenced with similar speed and efficiency following application of dexamethasone but unlike phytoene desaturase, mRNA levels did not recover within 10 days after dexamethasone was removed. Insertion of target gene sequences into this vector is mediated by Gateway™ recombination, facilitating its use for high‐throughput applications, such as gene discovery or validation. The inducibility of RNAi from this system may be useful in helping to identify the functions of genes which when constitutively silenced give embryo lethality or pleiotropic phenotypes. A modified version of this system may also be used for tissue‐specific hairpin RNA expression.
High‐yield production of authentic human growth hormone using a plant virus‐based expression system
Authors: Gils Mario , Kandzia Romy , Marillonnet Sylvestre , Klimyuk Victor , Gleba Yuri 
Published: October 2005

SummaryWe describe here a high‐yield transient expression system for the production of human growth hormone (hGH, or somatotropin) in transfected Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The system is based on a recently described plant virus‐based modular expression vector [Gleba, Y., Marillonnet, S. and Klimyuk, V. (2004) Engineering viral expression vectors for plants: the ‘full virus’ and the ‘deconstructed virus’ strategies. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 7, 182–188; Marillonnet, S., Giritch, A., Gils, M., Kandzia, R., Klimyuk, V. and Gleba, Y. (2004) In planta engineering of viral RNA replicons: efficient assembly by recombination of DNA modules delivered by Agrobacterium. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 6852–6857], and represents a simple and fast alternative to stable transformation. By using various combinations of provector modules, hGH was produced in three compartments of the cell: the apoplast, the chloroplast and the cytosol. We found that targeting to the apoplast provided the highest amount of correctly processed and biologically active hGH, with a yield of up to 10% of total soluble protein or 1 mg per gram of fresh weight leaf biomass. These results indicate that the use of viral vectors for high‐yield production of human therapeutic proteins in plants by transient expression provides an attractive alternative to production protocols using standard expression vectors in transgenic or transplastomic plants.
Negotiating livelihoods beyond Beijing: the burden of women food vendors in the informal economy of Limbe, Cameroon*
Authors: Fonchingong Charles C. 
Published: October 2005

As a response to the trappings of globalisation and the commoditisation of the sphere of production, women continue to play a crucial role in securing livelihoods by guaranteeing access to food in rural, peri‐urban, and urban areas. Based on a survey of food vendors, this paper evaluates women's input through informal earnings, the coping strategies devised to stave off poverty occasioned by the economic meltdown, the travails of meeting the daily demands of family survival and the influence on gender relations.The profile of vendors indicate that most are assuming greater headship of households, they straddle between the home and their business premises with attendant effects on time, mobility, health and labour. Amid these hurdles, the vendors are barely able to address the basic needs of their families. However, they are becoming economically empowered as they exercise greater leverage in intra‐household resource allocation. These minimal gains are offset by a heavy tax burden, the poor regulatory framework for informal sector activities and the incessant crackdown by municipal authorities. Reconciling the trade‐off between income generation and care‐giving hinges on drawing additional labour from the family‐especially the girl child and some supportive family relations.
‘I Get by with a Little Help from my Friends’: Adults with Intellectual Disability Discuss Loneliness1
Authors: McVilly Keith R. , Stancliffe Roger J. , Parmenter Trevor R. , Burton‐Smith Rosanne M. 
Published: October 2005

Background This study explored ‘loneliness’ as experienced by adults with intellectual disability, with ‘intermittent’ to ‘limited’ support needs.Method A measure of loneliness was piloted, and qualitative techniques used to develop a greater understanding of the participants’ experience.Results The Loneliness Scale proved valid and reliable and the participants reported loneliness in ways comparable with the general population.Conclusions The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of combining quantitative and qualitative techniques to enhance understanding of people's perspective when developing support systems to promote their quality of life. Based on participant perspectives, recommendations are made concerning the issues and types of support families and professionals could consider when seeking to assist people with intellectual disability address loneliness. Further investigation of the effects of differing educational and vocational opportunities on people's post‐school social networks appears warranted.
Deficient attention is hard to find: applying the perceptual load model of selective attention to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes
Authors: Huang‐Pollock Cynthia L. , Nigg Joel T. , Carr Thomas H. 
Published: October 2005

Background:  Whether selective attention is a primary deficit in childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) remains in active debate.Methods:  We used the perceptual load paradigm to examine both early and late selective attention in children with the Primarily Inattentive (ADHD‐I) and Combined subtypes (ADHD‐C) of ADHD.Results:  No evidence emerged for selective attention deficits in either of the subtypes, but sluggish cognitive tempo was associated with abnormal early selection.Conclusions:  At least some, and possibly most, children with DSM‐IV ADHD have normal selective attention. Results support the move away from theories of attention dysfunction as primary in ADHD‐C. In ADHD‐I, this was one of the first formal tests of posterior attention network dysfunction, and results did not support that theory. However, ADHD children with sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) warrant more study for possible early selective attention deficits.
Teacher‐mediated intervention after disaster: a controlled three‐year follow‐up of children's functioning
Authors: Wolmer Leo , Laor Nathaniel , Dedeoglu Ceyda , Siev Joanna , Yazgan Yanki 
Published: October 2005

Background:  Child survivors of a catastrophic earthquake in Turkey were evaluated three and a half years after the event, and three years after a sub‐group participated in a teacher‐mediated intervention developed by the authors. The goal of this follow‐up study was to determine the long‐term effectiveness of the original intervention.Methods:  Subjects who participated in the intervention were compared with a control group of children similar in terms of demographics, risk and exposure. All children were evaluated in terms of posttraumatic, grief and dissociative symptomatology, as well as adaptive functioning (academic performance, social behavior and general conduct).Results:  The severity of post‐traumatic, grief and dissociative symptoms of the two groups was comparable. Teachers blind to group assignment rated participating children significantly higher than the control group in terms of adaptive functioning.Conclusions:  Early post‐disaster intervention addressing children and their educational milieu provides children with significant symptomatic reduction, allowing the mobilization of adaptive coping, thereby enhancing their overall functioning as observed in school.
Sustained attention and response inhibition in young children at risk for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Berwid Olga G. , Curko Kera Elizabeth A. , Marks David J. , Santra Amita , Bender Heidi A. , Halperin Jeffrey M. 
Published: October 2005

Background:  Studies of school‐aged children, adolescents, and adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have variably shown ADHD‐related impairment in both inhibitory control and sustained attention. However, few studies have examined ADHD‐associated patterns of performance on these tasks among younger children (below age 7 years).Methods:  A combined continuous performance test and go/no‐go task (CPT/GNG) and the Day–Night Stroop Task (DNST) were administered to an ethnically diverse sample of 3.44‐ to 6.95‐year‐old children rated by parents and teachers as being either high risk or low risk for ADHD. All children performed the DNST (N = 71) and a subset of the sample (N = 44) performed the CPT/GNG. Analyses assessed task validity as well as the effects of age and risk status.Results:  Significant main effects for age and risk status were found on all tasks. In addition, age × condition interactions were found for the CPT and DNST, which suggest that the tasks were sensitive to age‐related changes in sustained attention and inhibitory control respectively. No significant risk status × condition interactions were found, suggesting that young children at risk for ADHD do not exhibit specific deficits in either inhibitory control or sustained attention. The most consistent effect related to risk status across tasks was the greater number of errors and longer and more variable reaction times on the part of children at risk for ADHD irrespective of condition.Conclusions:  ADHD‐associated decrements in performance on these tasks appear to be attributable either to generalized behavioral dysregulation or poor state regulation rather than to deficient inhibitory control.
The role of emotional responses and physiological reactivity in the marital conflict–child functioning link
Authors: El‐Sheikh Mona 
Published: October 2005

Background:  Children's emotional responses and physiological reactivity to conflict were examined as mediators and moderators in the associations between exposure to parental marital conflict and child adjustment and cognitive problems.Method:  One hundred and eighty elementary school children participated. In response to a simulated argument, children's skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined, and their emotional responses (reported and observed anger, sadness, and fear) were assessed.Results:  A higher level of SCLR was a robust risk factor for various child outcomes, mediated boys’ internalizing difficulties in the marital conflict–child functioning link, and functioned as a vulnerability factor for girls’ externalizing, internalizing, and cognitive problems. Increased anger (for boys) and sadness (for girls) exacerbated adjustment difficulties related to marital conflict.Conclusions:  Findings illustrate the aggregation of risk in relation to child and family characteristics.
Asymmetric deterioration of spatial awareness with diminishing levels of alertness in normal children and children with ADHD
Authors: Dobler V.B. , Anker S. , Gilmore J. , Robertson I.H. , Atkinson J. , Manly T. 
Published: October 2005

Background:  There is growing literature suggesting that some children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can show a significant bias in attention away from left space. Here we examine mechanisms that may underpin these effects in both clinical and non‐clinical child populations. Unilateral spatial inattention (unilateral neglect) is a commonly reported consequence of stroke in adults. Although for most patients the problem is relatively transient, persistent forms of neglect are almost exclusively associated with right hemisphere lesions. It has been suggested that this chronicity may result from co‐existing disruption to right hemisphere dominant systems that mediate alertness. Here we present two studies examining the relationship between sustained attention and left spatial awareness in childhood.Method:  In the first, normal children without the ADHD diagnosis were administered a non‐spatial test of sustained attention/alertness. Children who performed poorly at this task, relative to their more attentive peers, showed a modest but reliable delay in awareness of left‐sided visual information. Furthermore, attention towards the left declined for both groups as a function of time‐on‐task, suggesting a significant within‐subject modulatory effect of alertness on spatial awareness. The second study examines this relationship in children referred to clinical services for attention problems. Irrespective of their final diagnosis, children were divided into two groups according to their performance in sustained attention/alertness tasks.Results:  The results suggest that, regardless of the children's clinical diagnosis, diminished sustained attention/alertness levels formed the strongest predictor of relatively delayed awareness of information presented within left visual space. Two children within this group exhibited signs of hitherto undetected spatial neglect as severe as that observed in some brain‐injured adults.Conclusions:  Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed. Keywords: Sustained attention, visuo‐spatial attention, normal 6–7‐year‐old children.
Developmental transitions among affective and behavioral disorders in adolescent boys
Authors: Burke Jeffrey D. , Loeber Rolf , Lahey Benjamin B. , Rathouz Paul J. 
Published: October 2005

Background:  This paper expands upon recent efforts to advance beyond the examination of concurrent comorbidity between affective and behavioral disorders by testing developmental sequences among disorders. Doing so allows for improved tests of theories, such as Capaldi and Patterson's failure model of Conduct Disorder (CD) and depression. Furthermore, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is rarely considered distinctly from CD, minimizing the ability to identify distinct effects among behavioral disorders.Methods:  This paper used data from the Developmental Trends Study, a clinic‐referred cohort of 177 boys, along with their parents, who were assessed regularly using a structured clinical interview and a comprehensive set of other measures. Boys were recruited when they were between the ages of 7 and 12, and were reassessed annually until age 18. Predictive regression models tested the continuities among disorders, with depression, overanxious disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), ODD and CD examined separately as outcomes.Results:  Each disorder showed homotypic continuity, but a clear developmental sequence of heterotypic continuity also emerged. ADHD was predicted by no other disorders, and exclusively predicted ODD. CD was predicted only by ODD. However, ODD was also directly predictive of future anxiety and depression, and anxiety predicted future depression as well. A specific test of the failure model of CD and depression supported that model.Conclusions:  ODD appears as a pivotal developmental disorder in young males, in that ODD is notably influential in both subsequent behavioral and affective disorders. CD influences later depression only indirectly, through psychosocial impairment. Anxiety precedes depression, and ADHD is not predicted by other disorders.
Youth gangs, delinquency and drug use: a test of the selection, facilitation, and enhancement hypotheses
Authors: Gatti Uberto , Tremblay Richard E. , Vitaro Frank , McDuff Pierre 
Published: October 2005

Background: Three different explanations have been given for the observation that adolescent gang members report more delinquent behaviour than their counterparts who do not affiliate with gangs: a) adolescents who commit more crimes join gangs (selection hypothesis); b) gang membership facilitates deviant behaviour (facilitation hypothesis); c) selection and facilitation work interactively (enhancement hypothesis). The aim of this study was to test these hypotheses, while controlling for self‐reported delinquency, friends’ delinquency, and individual as well as family characteristics.Method: The sample included 756 boys first assessed when they attended kindergarten in disadvantaged areas of Montreal. Gang membership was assessed at the ages of 14, 15 and 16 years. Delinquency and drug use data were collected from self‐reports and court files at the same ages.Results: Gang members displayed far higher rates of delinquent behaviour and drug use than non‐gang members. The results support the facilitation model for transient gang members (i.e., youths in a gang during only one of the three periods considered) and the enhancement model for stable gang members (i.e., youths in a gang for at least two of the periods considered), for person and property offences. The association between gang membership and delinquency persisted after introducing the control variables. Additional analyses showed that the effect associated with belonging to a gang was beyond that of simply having delinquent friends.Conclusion: Preventing the creation and participation in such gangs should reduce the frequency of antisocial behaviour during adolescence.
Risk factors associated with subaponeurotic haemorrhage in full‐term infants exposed to vacuum extraction
Authors: Boo Nem‐Yun , Foong Kin‐Wai , Mahdy Zaleha Abdullah , Yong Sin‐Chuen , Jaafar Rohana 
Published: October 2005

Objectives  To determine obstetric and neonatal risk factors associated with subaponeurotic haemorrhage (SAH) in infants exposed to vacuum extraction.Design  A prospective observational study.Setting  In the labour room, operation theatre, postnatal wards and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a tertiary teaching hospital.Population  All infants born in the hospital with a history of exposure to vacuum extraction.Methods  A prospective observational study carried out over a 26‐month period. All eligible infants were examined at birth and during the first 24 hours of life.Main outcome measures  A diagnosis of SAH was based on detection of a tender fluctuant scalp swelling that crossed the skull suture lines of infants.Results  Of 10,066 infants born in the hospital during the study period, 338 (3.4%) had exposure to vacuum extraction. SAH was detected in 71 (21.0%) of them. Forward multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that five factors were significantly associated with development of SAH: maternal nulliparity (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 4.0; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.6, 10.0), failed vacuum extraction (adjusted OR: 16.4; 95% CI: 2.0, 135.6), Apgar score of less than 8 at 5 minutes of life (adjusted OR: 5.0; 95% CI: 1.7, 15.2), marks of vacuum cup over the sagittal suture (adjusted OR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.9, 10.2) and marks of leading edge of vacuum cup at <3 cm away from the anterior fontanel of infants' heads (adjusted OR: 6.0; 95% CI: 1.7, 21.0).Conclusion  Maternal nulliparity, placement of vacuum extraction cup over the sagittal suture at a distance too close to infant's anterior fontanel and failed vacuum extraction predisposed infants to develop SAH.
The risk of maternal ischaemic heart disease after gestational hypertensive disease
Authors: Wikström Anna‐Karin , Haglund Bengt , Olovsson Matts , Lindeberg Solveig Nordén 
Published: October 2005

Objective  The aim of this study was to investigate whether the risk of developing ischaemic heart disease (IHD) later in life increases with severity and recurrence of gestational hypertensive disease.Design  Cross‐sectional population‐based study.Setting  Sweden.Population  Women (403,550) giving birth to their first child in Sweden, 1973–1982. Of this cohort, 207,054 women who also gave birth to a second child during the same period were analysed separately.Methods  All women were followed up for 15 years, starting 4–14 years after the index pregnancy. Women who suffered from hypertensive disease during pregnancy were compared with women with normal pregnancies with regard to hospitalisation for, or death from, IHD during the follow up period.Main outcome measures  Fatal or non‐fatal IHD.Results  The adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) for later development of IHD was 1.6 (95% CI 1.3–2.0) when the first pregnancy was complicated by gestational hypertension without proteinuria, 1.9 (95% CI 1.6–2.2) for mild pre‐eclampsia and 2.8 (95% CI 2.2–3.7) for severe pre‐eclampsia. Women with gestational hypertension in their first pregnancy but not in their second had an adjusted IRR of 1.9 (95% CI 1.5–2.4) for development of IHD. Women with hypertensive disease in both pregnancies had an IRR of 2.8 (95% CI 2.0–3.9) compared with women with two normal pregnancies.Conclusion  Severe hypertensive disease in pregnancy has a stronger association with later development of IHD than has mild hypertensive disease. Recurrent hypertensive disease is more strongly associated with IHD than is non‐recurrent disease.
Pharmacokinetic interaction studies of atosiban with labetalol or betamethasone in healthy female volunteers
Authors: Rasmussen Birgitte Buur , Larsen Lotte Seiding , Senderovitz Thomas 
Published: October 2005

Objectives  In two separate trials, we studied the concomitant administration of atosiban with labetalol and betamethasone to determine any possibility of a clinically relevant pharmacokinetic interaction.Design  Study 1 was an open‐label, single dose atosiban, multiple dose labetalol, interaction study. Study 2 was an open‐label, randomised, three‐period crossover pharmacokinetic study.Setting  The studies were carried out at the Clinical Pharmacology Unit of AAI Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, Neu‐Ulm, Germany.Population  The study population consisted of healthy female volunteers.Methods  In Study 1, 14 healthy female volunteers participated. On study day 1, a 12‐hour intravenous infusion of 114.75 mg atosiban was administered; on days 2–4, participants received labetalol orally (100 mg twice daily), and on study day 5 they received the combined treatment. In Study 2, a total of 18 healthy female volunteers received, on three separate occasions, a 12‐hour intravenous infusion of 114.75 mg atosiban, a single intramuscular injection of 12 mg betamethasone or the two drugs in combination.Main outcome measure  For Study 1, the outcome parameter for atosiban was area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC); the study parameters for labetalol were AUC, maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and time to Cmax (tmax). In Study 2, AUC, Cmax and time to Cmax (tmax) were assessed for atosiban and betamethasone.Results  Labetalol had no clinically relevant influence on the bioavailability (AUC) of atosiban. For labetalol, the co‐administration with atosiban did not affect the extent of bioavailability, however, Cmax decreased by 36% and tmax increased by 45 minutes. The Cmin was not affected by atosiban. The betamethasone and atosiban combination led to similar mean plasma concentration–time curves as the administration of each substance alone. Pharmacokinetic parameters (AUC, Cmax, tmax) did not differ markedly between treatments and all 90% CIs for ratios between treatments were fully within limits (80–125%). The co‐administration of atosiban with labetalol or betamethasone resulted in similar tolerability to each substance alone.Conclusion  The co‐administration of atosiban with betamethasone or labetalol had no clinically relevant influence on their bioavailability or tolerability.