bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparative evaluation of freeze‐dried and liquid antigens in the direct agglutination test for serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (ITMA‐DAT/VL)
Authors: Jacquet Diane , Boelaert Marleen , Seaman Jill , Rijal Suman , Sundar Shyam , Menten Joris , Magnus Eddy 
Published: October 2006

SummaryObjective  The direct agglutination test (DAT) for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) with liquid (LQ) antigen is known to be only moderately reproducible because of inter‐observer and batch‐to‐batch variability as well as its sensitivity to temperature and shaking during transport. We evaluated a DAT with freeze‐dried (FD) antigen and compared it with the LQ antigen version.Methods  Blood samples of clinical VL suspects and healthy endemic controls were collected in Sudan, Nepal and India. Both test versions were performed in duplicate in the respective countries and in the reference laboratory. Interbatch variability and stability tests were conducted and agreement was examined within and between centres on a dichotomic scale by Cohen's kappa as well as on a continuous scale through Bland–Altman plots.Results  The FD antigen remains fully active even after storage at 45 °C for 24 months. Using a cut‐off titre of 1 : 6400, the agreement between the FD and the LQ formats was excellent.Conclusion  The major advantages of FD antigen are its better stability at higher temperatures and its longer shelf life, which make it much more suitable than the LQ version for use in the field.
No evidence of association of the MYO9B polymorphisms with celiac disease in the Spanish population
Authors: Núñez C. , Márquez A. , Varadé J. , Martínez A. , Polanco I. , Maluenda C. , Fernández‐Arquero M. , De La Concha E. G. , Urcelay E. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractInconsistent results concerning the association of polymorphisms in the MYO9B gene with celiac disease (CD) have been recently published. This gene encodes a myosin with a guanosine‐triphosphatase (GTPase)‐activating protein domain for the Rho‐family of small G proteins, which are involved in cytoskeleton remodeling and therefore potentially involved in intestinal permeability. Functional and positional reasons led us to investigate the role of MYO9B polymorphisms in the Spanish CD population. A case–control study, including 415 CD patients and 433 ethnically matched healthy controls, and a familial study, including parents of 145 of those CD patients, was performed. Six MYO9B variants previously associated with CD were analyzed: rs2305767, rs2279003, rs962917, rs1457092, rs2305765 and rs2305764. No MYO9B variants or MYO9B haplotypes were found associated with CD, either before or after stratification of the patients for the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐DQ2–positive risk factor. The family study revealed no distorted transmission of the aforementioned MYO9B polymorphisms or haplotypes. Our results support a negligible influence of this gene on CD predisposition.
Rapid sequence intubation without a neuromuscular blocking agent in a 14‐year‐old female patient with myasthenia gravis
Authors: POLITIS GEORGE D. , TOBIAS JOSEPH D. 
Published: October 2006

SummaryThe anesthesia care of a 14‐year‐old female patient with an acute exacerbation of myasthenia gravis (MG) and a full stomach who required emergency surgery for placement of a hemodialysis catheter is described. A nonventilated rapid sequence induction was successful with the use of propofol, lidocaine, remifentanil, cricoid pressure and no neuromuscular blocking agent. Although the use of combinations of i.v. anesthetic agents have been suggested for tracheal intubation without the need for neuromuscular blocking agents, none of these techniques has been advocated for rapid sequence intubation. We review existing literature on the topic of tracheal intubation using remifentanil and propofol without a neuromuscular blocking agent and on the topic of tracheal intubation of patients with MG using i.v. anesthesia and no neuromuscular blocking agents.
The functions of belly‐soaking in Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus
Authors: AMAT JUAN A. , MASERO JOSE A. 
Published: October 2006

We tested whether belly‐soaking (i.e. wetting of ventral plumage) in incubating Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus in a hot environment serves to cool overheated eggs, or whether belly‐soaking would mainly serve for adult thermoregulation, and egg wetting would be a mere consequence of the ventral feathers of incubating adults being wet. When ambient temperature was high (> 30 °C), body temperature of incubating Kentish Plovers increased with ambient temperatures. When adults departed from nests to belly‐soak, egg temperatures were not critical for embryos. However, eggs in exposed nests overheated to levels that may be lethal for embryos when adults left the nests to belly‐soak, and adults also employed belly‐soaking to cool down overheated eggs when they returned to their nests. Indeed, the cooling rate of eggs was much faster when they were wetted. We conclude that the primary function of belly‐soaking in the Kentish Plover is to dissipate body heat in heat‐stressed incubating adults, rather than to cool overheated eggs. Eggs overheated as a consequence of short‐term interruptions in nest attendance by heat‐stressed adults to belly‐soak, and Plovers employed secondarily belly‐soaking to cool down overheated eggs. These results indicate that adult thermoregulation and egg cooling are not mutually exclusive functions of belly‐soaking.
Nestin expression in cutaneous melanomas and melanocytic nevi
Authors: Brychtova Svetlana , Fiuraskova Michala , Hlobilková Alice , Brychta Tomas , Hirnak Jaroslav 
Published: October 2006

Background:  Nestin is one of the intermediate filaments that are expressed in proliferating neural progenitor cells during development of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system. Postnatal re‐expression of the protein occurs mainly under pathological conditions, including injury and neoplasia. In this study, nestin expression was detected in both benign and malignant melanocytic skin lesions and its diagnostic relevance was then evaluated.Methods:  Altogether 139 bioptic tissue samples consisting of 42 nodular melanomas, 32 superficial spreading melanomas, 12 metastatic melanomas, 10 dysplastic nevi and 43 common melanocytic intradermal and dermoepidermal nevi were analysed using indirect immunohistochemical staining.Results:  We demonstrated that nestin immunostaining was significantly increased in melanomas where it correlated with more advanced stages of the disease.Conclusion:  We conclude that expression of the intermediate filament protein nestin might be an indicator of tumor dedifferentiation and more aggressive behaviour. Furthermore, we suggest that nestin might be a relevant marker of tumorous and non‐tumorous angiogenesis.
Pustulo‐ovoid bodies of Milian in granular cell tumors
Authors: Epstein Darin S. , Pashaei Shayesteh , Hunt Edgar , Fitzpatrick James E. , Golitz Loren E. 
Published: October 2006

Background:  Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are benign neural tumors with a distinct histologic appearance on light microscopy, characterized by eosinophilic cytoplasmic granules. Pustulo‐ovoid bodies of Milian (POB) are larger granules surrounded by a clear halo. There have been no histologic studies to document their prevalence in GCT.Methods:  We examined the sections of 47 cases of GCT stained with hematoxylin and eosin to determine the frequency of POB within this tumor. POB were measured per 10 high‐power fields (HPFs) and were divided into the following categories: less than 10 POB per 10 HPFs, 10–30 per 10 HPFs, 30–50 per 10 HPFs and greater than 50 per 10 HPFs.Results:  POB were present in 100% of the specimens examined. Eleven cases (23%) had between 1 and 9 POBs per 10 HPFs, twelve cases (26%) had between 10 and 29 POBs per HPFs, five cases (11%) had between 30 and 50 POBs per HPFs and nineteen cases (40%) had greater than 50 POBs per HPFs. When grouped according to clinical characteristics, there was an even distribution of POB by age, sex and site of the tumor.Conclusions:  In our series, POB were present in varying numbers in all the tumors studied. They appear to represent the heterogeneity of the lysosomes, giving the appearance of large granules that have partially detached from the adjacent cytoplasm. POB are an easily recognizable component of GCTs.
Rethinking Women and Property in Sixteenth‐ and Seventeenth‐Century England
Authors: Hammons Pamela 
Published: October 2006

AbstractIf one were to consider male‐authored literary works alone – with no reference to historical documents or women's writing – one would probably be left with a distorted picture of women's status in relation to property. However, work in three main areas – legal history, material culture, and women's writing – in the last fifteen years has improved our understanding of women and property considerably. For example, revisions of legal history have highlighted differences between Renaissance women's everyday practices in relation to property and what the law theoretically required, and materialist work on women's connections to cloth production and theatrical properties ascribes significant agency to them. While analyses of women's diaries, letters, and wills have illuminated their thoughts and behavior in relation to property, we can still learn more from women's imaginative writing, especially their poetry.
Effects of ATP on rat renal haemodynamics and excretion: role of sodium intake, nitric oxide and cytochrome P450
Authors: Dobrowolski L. , Walkowska A. , Kompanowska‐Jezierska E. , Kuczeriszka M. , Sadowski J. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractAim: Adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP) affects intrarenal vascular tone and tubular transport via P2 receptors; however, the actual role of the system in regulation of renal perfusion and excretion remains unclear and is the subject of this whole‐kidney study.Methods: Effects of suprarenal aortic ATP infusion, 0.6–1.2 mg kg−1 h−1, were examined in anaesthetised rats maintained on low‐ (LS) or high‐sodium (HS) diet. Renal artery blood flow (RBF, transonic flow probe) and the perfusion (laser‐Doppler flux) of the superficial cortex (CBF) and outer and inner medulla (OM–BF, IM–BF) were measured, together with sodium and water excretion and urine osmolality.Results: Adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate did not change arterial pressure, RBF or CBF while the effects on medullary perfusion depended on sodium intake. In LS rats ATP increased IM–BF 19 ± 6%, the effect was prevented by inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) withN‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester. In HS rats ATP decreased OM–BF 16 ± 3% and IM–BF (7 ± 4%, not significant); previous inhibition of cytochrome P450 with 1‐aminobenzotriazol blunted the OM–BF decrease and reversed the previous decrease of IM–BF to a 13 ± 8% increase. Inhibition of P2 receptors with pyridoxal derivative (PPADS) abolished medullary vascular responses to ATP. In HS rats pre‐treated with PPADS, ATP increased tubular reabsorption, probably via adenosine formation and stimulation of P1 receptors.Conclusion: The data indicate a potential role of ATP in the selective control of renal medullary perfusion, different in sodium depleted and sodium replete rats. The action of ATP appears to be mediated by the NO system and the cytochrome P450 dependent vasoactive metabolites.
Mechanism of blood coagulation in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Authors: LI Shuangan , LIU Yuzhi , ZHAO Guoxian , LI Junjie , HOU Jianhua , GAO Ming , LI Yurong 
Published: October 2006

Abstract In vitro, carp blood was anticoagulated by using MgSO4 at a final concentration of 22.2 mmol L−1 and sodium citrate at a final concentration of 11.8 mmol L−1. The coagulation times for carp plasma diluted by ion‐free water (1:1), and that of carp plasma to which thrombocytes and small lymphocytes were added, were measured at 23 °C using standard methods, and then contrasted with the coagulation times for plasma obtained from chickens and rabbits. The shapes of the thrombocytes and small lymphocytes, which were either wet mounted or stained with hematoxylin and eosin, were observed under a light microscope. We found that: (i) the coagulation reaction of carp blood was significantly (P < 0.01) accelerated by the addition of ion‐free water; (ii) the three types of blood cells (thrombocytes, small lymphocytes and red blood cells) promoted plasma coagulation to a similar extent (P > 0.05); (iii) in carp Mg2+ plasma and K2C2O4 plasma, the thrombocytes were usually morphologically normal, but many small lymphocytes were destroyed and became aggregated; (iv) in the citrate plasma, thrombocytes were often aggregated, but the small lymphocytes were usually morphologically normal; and (v) the coagulation time for chicken and rabbit plasma was significantly extended by adding ion‐free water.
Enhanced preventive programme at a beryllium oxide ceramics facility reduces beryllium sensitisation among new workers
Authors: Cummings Kristin J , Deubner David C , Day Gregory A , Henneberger Paul K , Kitt Margaret M , Kent Michael S , Kreiss Kathleen , Schuler Christine R 
Published: October 2006

Background:A 1998 survey at a beryllium oxide ceramics manufacturing facility found that 10% of workers hired in the previous 6 years had beryllium sensitisation as determined by the beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT). In response, the facility implemented an enhanced preventive programme to reduce sensitisation, including increased respiratory and dermal protection and particle migration control.Aim:To assess the programme’s effectiveness in preventing sensitisation.Methods:In 2000, the facility began testing newly hired workers for beryllium sensitisation with the BeLPT at time of hire and during employment. The sensitisation rate and prevalence for workers hired from 2000 to 2004 were compared with that for workers hired from 1993 to 1998, who were tested in the 1998 survey. Facility environmental conditions for both time periods were evaluated.Results:Newly hired workers in both cohorts worked for a mean of 16 months. Of the 97 workers hired from 2000 to 2004 with at least one employment BeLPT result, four had abnormal results at time of hire and one became sensitised during employment. Of the 69 workers hired from 1993 to 1998 and tested in 1998, six were found to be sensitised. The sensitisation rate for the 2000–4 workers was 0.7–2.7/1000 person-months of employment, and that for the 1993–8 workers was 5.6/1000 person-months, at least 2.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6 to 8.4) and up to 8.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 188.8) times higher than that for the 2000–4 workers. The sensitisation prevalence for the 2000–4 workers was 1% and that for the 1993–8 workers was 8.7%, 8.4 (95% CI 1.04 to 68.49) times higher than that for the 2000–4 workers. Airborne beryllium levels for production workers for the two time periods were similar.Conclusions:A comprehensive preventive programme reduced beryllium sensitisation in new workers during the first years of employment, despite airborne beryllium levels for production workers that were similar to pre-programme levels.
COMPARING QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT PATTERNS AND SEVERITIES OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS
Authors: Tangtrakulwanich Boonsin , Chongsuvivatwong Virasakdi , Geater Alan F. 
Published: October 2006

Objective: To identify what extent different patterns and severities of involvement affect quality of life of people suffering knee osteoarthritis. Methods: This population-based survey involved 288 women and 288 men aged 40 years or older from Songkhla province, southern Thailand. Quality of life was measured using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form Health sutvery (SF-36) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Radiographic investigation included antero-posterior and skyline view of both knees. Osteoarthritis was categorized into 3 patterns; isolated patellofemoral, isolated tibiofemoral and combined with diagnosis based on Kellgren & Lawrence grade 2 or higher. Results: Quality of life as measured by SF-36 and WOMAC showed poorer score in moderate or severe grade than in mild grade of severity. Isolated patellofemoral and combined patterns demonstrated showed poorer scores on both WOMAC and SF-36 than isolated tibiofemoral pattern. Body mass index, income level and pattern of involvement could independently predict total scores of WOMAC, while age, marital status and pattern of involvement affected total score of SF-36. Conclusion: Pattern of involvement is a better predictor of quality of life than disease severity in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Orographic Influences on Subtropical Stratocumulus
Authors: Richter I. , Mechoso C. R. 
Published: October 2006

Abstract
The impact of South American orography on subtropical stratocumulus clouds off the Peruvian coast is investigated in the context of an atmospheric general circulation model. It is found that stratocumulus incidence is significantly reduced when South American orography is removed. Key to this behavior is a decrease in lower tropospheric stability (LTS) that allows for more frequent stratocumulus destruction through the model’s cloud-top entrainment instability mechanism. The role of orography in enhancing Peruvian stratocumulus is as follows. Within the PBL, orography deflects the midlatitude westerly winds equatorward in association with cold air advection and blocking of the low-level flow from the continent. Above the PBL, the steep and high South American orography deflects a significant portion of the midlatitude westerlies equatorward. This flow sinks along the equatorward sloping isentropes, thus promoting subsidence. Both processes increase LTS over the stratocumulus region. In further AGCM experiments, the sensitivity of Peruvian stratocumulus to the use of unsmoothed orographic boundary conditions is assessed. The results show no significant differences to the control simulation, which uses smoothed orography. This suggests that, in the context of GCMs, a representation of South American orography more detailed than is generally used has little potential for improving the performance of coupled ocean–atmosphere models in the eastern tropical Pacific.
I, Apparatus, You
Authors: Weight Jenny 
Published: October 2006

In 2001, Florian Cramer wondered whether ‘the theoretical debate of literature in digital networks has shifted... from perceiving computer data as an extension and transgression of textuality (as manifest in such notions as ‘hypertext’, ‘hyperfiction’, ‘hyper-/multimedia’) towards paying attention to the very codedness–that is, textuality–of digital systems themselves' (Cramer, 2001). I want to extend this focus on the codedness of computer-based textuality into a technosocial ‘phenomenology’ of the text-as-apparatus. These texts cannot be understood separately from the apparatus that displays and performs them. ‘Trilogical’ relationships exist between humans and apparatuses that are revealed during the performance of the text-as-apparatus. The trilogue acknowledges the apparatus as an entity that, while lacking consciousness, possesses a pseudo-agency with ramifications for the interpretations of such texts. The result is new types of creative relationships, in which different concepts of language compete, and hopefully combine, to create new types of meaning.
Atypically diffuse functional connectivity between caudate nuclei and cerebral cortex in autism
Authors: Turner Katherine C , Frost Leonard , Linsenbardt David , McIlroy John R , Müller Ralph-Axel 
Published: October 2006

Abstract

Background
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting sociocommunicative behavior, but also sensorimotor skill learning, oculomotor control, and executive functioning. Some of these impairments may be related to abnormalities of the caudate nuclei, which have been reported for autism.

Methods
Our sample was comprised of 8 high-functioning males with autism and 8 handedness, sex, and age-matched controls. Subjects underwent functional MRI scanning during performance on simple visuomotor coordination tasks. Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) effects were identified as interregional blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal cross-correlation, using the caudate nuclei as seed volumes.

Results
In the control group, fcMRI effects were found in circuits with known participation of the caudate nuclei (associative, orbitofrontal, oculomotor, motor circuits). Although in the autism group fcMRI effects within these circuits were less pronounced or absent, autistic subjects showed diffusely increased connectivity mostly in pericentral regions, but also in brain areas outside expected anatomical circuits (such as visual cortex).

Conclusion
These atypical connectivity patterns may be linked to developmental brain growth disturbances recently reported in autism and suggest inefficiently organized functional connectivity between caudate nuclei and cerebral cortex, potentially accounting for stereotypic behaviors and executive impairments.
Alterations of metabolic activity in human osteoarthritic osteoblasts by lipid peroxidation end product 4-hydroxynonenal
Authors: Shi Qin , Vaillancourt France , Côté Véronique , Fahmi Hassan , Lavigne Patrick , Afif Hassan , Di Battista John A , Fernandes Julio C , Benderdour Mohamed 
Published: October 2006

Abstract4-Hydroxynonenal (HNE), a lipid peroxidation end product, is produced abundantly in osteoarthritic (OA) articular tissues, but its role in bone metabolism is ill-defined. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that alterations in OA osteoblast metabolism are attributed, in part, to increased levels of HNE. Our data showed that HNE/protein adduct levels were higher in OA osteoblasts compared to normal and when OA osteoblasts were treated with H2O2. Investigating osteoblast markers, we found that HNE increased osteocalcin and type I collagen synthesis but inhibited alkaline phosphatase activity. We next examined the effects of HNE on the signaling pathways controlling cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression in view of their putative role in OA pathophysiology. HNE dose-dependently decreased basal and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced IL-6 expression while inducing COX-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) release. In a similar pattern, HNE induces changes in osteoblast markers as well as PGE2 and IL-6 release in normal osteoblasts. Upon examination of signaling pathways involved in PGE2 and IL-6 production, we found that HNE-induced PGE2 release was abrogated by SB202190, a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor. Overexpression of p38 MAPK enhanced HNE-induced PGE2 release. In this connection, HNE markedly increased the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, JNK2, and transcription factors (CREB-1, ATF-2) with a concomitant increase in the DNA-binding activity of CRE/ATF. Transfection experiments with a human COX-2 promoter construct revealed that the CRE element (-58/-53 bp) was essential for HNE-induced COX-2 promoter activity. However, HNE inhibited the phosphorylation of IκBα and subsequently the DNA-binding activity of nuclear factor-κB. Overexpression of IKKα increased TNF-α-induced IL-6 production. This induction was inhibited when TNF-α was combined with HNE. These findings suggest that HNE may exert multiple effects on human OA osteoblasts by selective activation of signal transduction pathways and alteration of osteoblastic phenotype expression and pro-inflammatory mediator production.