bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intravesical instillation therapy with bacillus Calmette‐Guérin for superficial bladder cancer: Study of the mechanism of bacillus Calmette‐Guérin immunotherapy
Authors: Shintani Yasuyo , Sawada Yoshihisa , Inagaki Takeshi , Kohjimoto Yasuo , Uekado Yasunari , Shinka Toshiaki 
Published: January 2007

Aim:  In order to clarify the initial step of the mechanism by which bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG) exhibits antitumor activity via the immune response induced in the bladder submucosa after intravesical BCG therapy for human bladder cancer, various cytokines secreted in the urine after BCG instillation were measured.Methods:  After transurethral resection of bladder cancer, a 6‐week course of BCG instillation was performed. At the first and sixth weeks' dosings, spontaneously excreted urine was collected before and 4, 8, and 24 h after BCG instillation. The urinary cytokines were determined by Sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay using monoclonal antibodies against granulocyte–macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF), interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐8, interferon (IFN)‐γ, and IL‐12.Results:  After the BCG therapy, various cytokines, such as GM‐CSF, TNF‐α, G‐CSF, IL‐1β, IL‐8, IFN‐γ, and IL‐12 were secreted, comprising the immune response cascade. The mean urinary excretions of GM‐CSF and TNF‐α 4 h after the sixth week's instillation were significantly higher than the pre‐instillation levels. There were no significant increases in the urinary IFN‐γ or IL‐12 levels between 4 and 24 h after the sixth week's instillation. The TNF‐α level 4 h after the sixth week's instillation had a strong tendency towards the absence of recurrence, with a mean follow‐up of 54.1 months. The Kaplan‐Meier curve showed the 2, 5, and 10‐year recurrence‐free survival rates were 72.4%, 65.8%, and 56.4%, respectively.Conclusions:  We suggested that the urinary levels of TNF‐α might be essential in antitumor activity after BCG therapy and might play an important role in the prevention of bladder tumor recurrence.
Assessment of small‐dose fentanyl and sufentanil blunting the cardiovascular responses to laryngoscopy and intubation in children
Authors: SHAN XUE FU , PENG LIU KUN , LIU YI , CHAO XU YA , LIAO XU , ZHANG GUO‐HUA , LI CHENG‐WEN , YONG YANG QUAN , SUN HAI‐TAO 
Published: January 2007

SummaryBackground:  The authors found no study assessing the efficacy of small‐dose narcotics on the cardiovascular response from intubation in children, so they observed the effects of fentanyl 2 μg·kg−1 and sufentanil 0.2 μg·kg−1 on the cardiovascular changes during laryngoscopy and intubation in children.Methods:  Ninety‐three children aged 3–9 years were randomized to one of three groups to receive the following treatments in a double‐blind manner: normal saline (group C), fentanyl 2 μg·kg−1 (group F) and sufentanil 0.2 μg·kg−1 (group S) 2 min before induction. Noninvasive blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded before anesthesia induction (baseline value), immediately before intubation (postinduction values), at intubation and 5 min after intubation at 1‐min interval.Results:  Tracheal intubation caused significant increases in BP and HR in the three groups compared with baseline values. BP and HR at intubation and after intubation and their maximum values during observation were significantly lower in groups F and S than in group C (P < 0.05). The mean percent increases of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and HR at intubation were significantly lower in group S, 7% and 10%, than in group F, 17% and 25% (P < 0.05). The increases in SBP and HR of more than 30% of baseline values during the observation period were significantly higher in group F, 27% and 43%, than in group S, 0% and 3% (P < 0.05).Conclusions:  When used as part of anesthesia induction with propofol in children, sufentanil 0.2 μg·kg−1 2 min before induction is more effective in attenuating the cardiovascular intubation response than fentanyl 2 μg·kg−1.
Silibinin inhibits renal cell carcinoma via mechanisms that are independent of insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein 3
Authors: Cheung Catherine W. , Vesey David A. , Nicol David L. , Johnson David W. 
Published: January 2007

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether silibinin, a flavonoid antioxidant with anticancer properties that inhibits cellular growth via the up‐regulation of insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP‐3), inhibits renal cell carcinoma (RCC) growth via the IGFBP‐3 pathway.MATERIALS AND METHODSCell morphology, DNA synthesis by thymidine incorporation, viability assessed by 3,4,5 dimethylthiazol‐2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, trypan blue exclusion, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, apoptosis and IGFBP‐3 protein (Western blotting) were evaluated in silibinin‐treated SN12K1 cells (a cell line derived from metastatic RCC) in the presence or absence of IGFBP‐3 immunoneutralization.RESULTSSilibinin suppressed SN12K1 DNA synthesis at 24 and 48 h incubation by a mean (sd) of at least 68 (10)% of the control values at ≥2 µmol/L (P < 0.05). At high concentrations (>80 µmol/L) cell viability was compromised, as shown by decreased MTT uptake of 62 (10)% of control values (P < 0.001), reduced cell counts of ≥77 (9)% of control values (P < 0.05), elevated LDH release of 212 (49)% of control (P < 0.001), and the presence of necrotic and apoptotic cells on immunofluorescence staining. Removing endogenous IGFBP‐3 by neutralizing with anti‐IGFBP‐3 antibody increased DNA synthesis by 240 (35)% of control for 24 h, (P < 0.001). However, on Western blot analysis of IGFBP‐3 levels in conditioned media incubated in the presence of silibinin there was down‐regulation of protein expression.CONCLUSIONSilibinin suppresses SN12K1 cell growth and, at high doses, increases cell death. These effects are independent of IGFBP‐3.
Using gene chips to identify organ‐specific, smooth muscle responses to experimental diabetes: potential applications to urological diseases
Authors: Hipp Jason D. , Davies Kelvin P. , Tar Moses , Valcic Mira , Knoll Abraham , Melman Arnold , Christ George J. 
Published: January 2007

OBJECTIVETo identify early diabetes‐related alterations in gene expression in bladder and erectile tissue that would provide novel diagnostic and therapeutic treatment targets to prevent, delay or ameliorate the ensuing bladder and erectile dysfunction.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe RG‐U34A rat GeneChip® (Affymetrix Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA) oligonucleotide microarray (containing ≈8799 genes) was used to evaluate gene expression in corporal and male bladder tissue excised from rats 1 week after confirmation of a diabetic state, but before demonstrable changes in organ function in vivo. A conservative analytical approach was used to detect alterations in gene expression, and gene ontology (GO) classifications were used to identify biological themes/pathways involved in the aetiology of the organ dysfunction.RESULTSIn all, 320 and 313 genes were differentially expressed in bladder and corporal tissue, respectively. GO analysis in bladder tissue showed prominent increases in biological pathways involved in cell proliferation, metabolism, actin cytoskeleton and myosin, as well as decreases in cell motility, and regulation of muscle contraction. GO analysis in corpora showed increases in pathways related to ion channel transport and ion channel activity, while there were decreases in collagen I and actin genes.CONCLUSIONSThe changes in gene expression in these initial experiments are consistent with the pathophysiological characteristics of the bladder and erectile dysfunction seen later in the diabetic disease process. Thus, the observed changes in gene expression might be harbingers or biomarkers of impending organ dysfunction, and could provide useful diagnostic and therapeutic targets for a variety of progressive urological diseases/conditions (i.e. lower urinary tract symptoms related to benign prostatic hyperplasia, erectile dysfunction, etc.).
WHY SHOULD THEOLOGY BE UNNATURAL?
Authors: GRANT COLIN 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe recovery of theological integrity effected by Karl Barth has very much to do with his polemic against natural theology. Theology has regained credibility, however, at the price of being made unnatural, severed from the world in its own ecclesiastical sphere. This actually represents an indirect endorsement of natural theology inasmuch as the naturalistic understanding of the world is taken for granted as the way the world is. One result of this is the virtual abandonment of nature for theology, reflected in an alienation from science and a disinterest in ecology. The more specific object of Barth's critique of natural theology, Nazism, may also exert a reverse influence on Barth's theology, helping to account for its Christological exclusivism. The implication of this is that the critique of natural theology requires a renewed appreciation of the naturalness of theology.
A reflection on PostModernism and the transformation of failure in learning disability services within the independent public sector at the beginning of the 21st Century
Authors: Day Steve 
Published: January 2007

Accessible summarySteve Day worked on a project with North Somerset People First for his Masters degree. It was called Cutting Up Sharks. The title comes from the PostModernist artist, Damien Hurst, who once gave an exhibition where he preserved cows which had been cut in half. Mr Hurst did a similar thing with sharks, except they were kept in one piece. As sharks are far more dangerous than cows, we decided to cut up the sharks instead. We live in an unsafe world; nevertheless people with learning disabilities seek inclusion. The Cutting Up Sharks project used people's own individual stories as research. We looked at what people mean by the words success and failure. In today's world, success can begin to look like failure, yet sometimes failures often seem successful. In this sense, the right to take risks can empower individuals, as well as groups of people, to transform their own circumstances. Yet being equal and being included in a dangerous world means that if we are truly citizens we are also truly targets.SummaryIf ever there was a right time to write about Learning Disability Services in the context of a transformation, this is it. I am not writing about the subject as a single entity, divorced from the bigger picture of what is happening to society and the world about us. Whatever ‘transforming’ is going on for people with learning disability, it is doing so in the context of a global market place. The concept of ‘Cutting Up Sharks’ identifies danger as a by‐product of inclusion. On the world's stage the news headlines have the same implications for us all. The change in the construction and administration of both the National Health Service and Social Services has, and is, having a profound effect on the lives of people with learning disabilities. Those changes have come about, in part, due to a recognition of past failures. I have worked in Learning Disability Services for 19 years, I have seen in that time British society slowly, often painfully slowly, begin to recognize people with learning disabilities amongst its population. In a PostModernist world recognition is about visibility, which in turn makes people potential targets. The ‘Inclusion’ championed in ‘Valuing People’ brings with it a right to be recognized and in so doing people with learning disabilities are included in a ‘general loss of confidence within Western democratic culture’. (Butler 2002, p. 110) Inclusion becomes not merely a question of service provision, it is also about bombs on buses, famine and bird flu, global warming and fragile democracies. There is a creaking door opening for people with learning disabilities, providing them recognition within the PostModern construct of fragmented societies. I would contend that against such a backdrop there is a real chance of the failure to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities becoming transformed.
New Links With China Are Key to Japan's Security
Authors: WATANABE TSUNEO 
Published: January 2007

Never before in history have China and Japan been great powers at the same time. Today they must figure out how to live together as equals. The promise of mutual prosperity ties them together; the remembrance of bad things past pushes them apart.If that wary dance were not complicated enough, a nuclear provocateur from neighboring North Korea intrudes. A legendary figure of Japan's post‐war miracle, Tsuneo Watanabe, weighs in on these big questions. Hans Blix, a former UN arms inspector and the former South Korean prime minister and Nobel laureate, Kim Dae Jung, address the North Korean conundrum.
Fluoride ingestion from toothpaste and diet in 1‐ to 3‐year‐old Brazilian children
Authors: De Almeida Beatriz Simões , Da Silva Cardoso Vanessa Eid , Buzalaf Marília Afonso Rabelo 
Published: January 2007

Abstract –  Objective:  This study estimated the total daily fluoride intake of 1‐ to 3‐year‐old children from diet and dentifrice. The constituents of the diet were divided into solids, water, milk, and other beverages, which were analyzed separately. The correlation between fingernail fluoride concentrations and the total daily fluoride intake by children was also investigated.Methods:  Thirty‐three children, living in a fluoridated area, participated in the study. Fluoride intake from diet was monitored by the ‘duplicate plate’ method, investigating the different constituents of the diet. Fluoride ingested from dentifrice was determined by subtracting the amount of fluoride recovered after brushing from the amount originally placed onto the child's toothbrush. Fingernails were clipped and collected on three occasions. Fluoride was analyzed with the ion‐specific electrode, after hexamethyldisiloxane‐facilitated diffusion. Data were tested by anova and Tukey's post hoc tests, Student's t‐tests and linear regression (P < 0.05).Results:  Mean (±SD) fluoride intake from diet and dentifrice was 0.025 ± 0.013 and 0.106 ± 0.085 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively, totaling 0.130 mg/kg body weight/day. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.971, P < 0.0001) was seen between the amount of dentifrice loaded onto the brush (0.49 ± 0.30 g) and the amount of fluoride ingested during each tooth brushing (0.59 ± 0.45 mg). Among the constituents of the diet, water and milk had a significantly higher contribution to the fluoride intake (0.18 ± 0.11 mg/day, P < 0.0001), when compared with solids (0.07 ± 0.05 mg/day) and other beverages (0.07 ± 0.04 mg/day). Mean (±SD) fingernail fluoride concentration on the three dates of collection was 3.11 ± 1.14, 2.22 ± 1.47 and 3.53 ± 1.40 μg F/g. There was no significant correlation between fingernail fluoride concentration and the total fluoride intake.Conclusions:  Most of the children are exposed to a daily fluoride intake above the suggested threshold for dental fluorosis. The dentifrice alone is responsible for an average of 81.5% of the daily fluoride intake, while among the constituents of the diet, water and milk are the most important contributors. In addition, small variations in daily fluoride intake cannot be detected in fingernails.
Testing the effect of including oral health in general health checks for elderly patients in medical practice – a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lowe C. , Blinkhorn A. S. , Worthington H. V. , Craven R. 
Published: January 2007

Abstract –  Aim:  To test the feasibility and effectiveness of an oral health referral process for elderly patients (aged 75 years or over) attending a preventive health check (PHC) with their general medical practitioner.Objectives:  To evaluate the effectiveness of the process in increasing dental attendance at baseline and 6 months after the intervention. To identify key characteristics of those who accepted an oral health visit (OHV). To determine the proportion of people attending the OHV who required treatment and subsequently attended a dentist.Setting:  Three general medical practices in east Cheshire, UK.Design:  A randomized controlled trial.Method:  Elderly patients attending their general medical practice for PHCs were randomly assigned to a test group, who were invited to attend for an OHV, and to a control group, who received no intervention. Six months after the PHC the effectiveness of the process was measured.Results:  Some 50% of those invited for an OHV accepted. Those accepting were more likely to be edentulous, wear dentures or have a current oral health problem, than those declining. Regression analysis showed the best predictors of acceptance to be having a current dental problem or pain and not having a regular dentist. The mean time since their last dental visit was 8.1 years which was significantly longer than those declining the OHV. 63% of individuals attending the OHV were assessed as having a realistic treatment need and 70% of those referred went on to complete the course of treatment. In the test group a highly significant increase in reported dental visiting was found at sixth month evaluation. The primary care staff were happy to include the dental checklist and felt it was a valuable addition to the PHC.Conclusions:  The offer of an OHV was taken up most readily by those with current oral problems, or pain and those with no regular dentist. The inclusion of a dental checklist within the PHC for elderly patients together with help with arranging a dental appointment shows promise as a way of ensuring the dental needs of this group are met.
DIFFERENCE TEST SENSITIVITY: COGNITIVE CONTRAST EFFECTS
Authors: LEE H.‐S. , O'MAHONY M. 
Published: January 2007

ABSTRACT Judges performed 3‐AFC tests between “threshold” concentrations of NaCl solutions and purified water stimuli. For some 3‐AFCs, NaCl was the odd stimulus (S‐odd); in others, water was the odd stimulus (W‐odd). In one condition, interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli; in a second condition they were the same. The 3‐AFCs in which the interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli yielded a higher d′. When interstimulus rinses were the same as the stimuli, S‐odd 3‐AFCs had a higher d′ than W‐odd 3‐AFCs. The same was not true when the interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli. Sequential Sensitivity Analysis and the conditional stimulus model did not furnish a complete explanation for these data. A consideration of additional cognitive contrast effects yielded a possible explanation.
IMPACT OF DRYING AND STORAGE TIME ON SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF ROSEMARY (ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS L.)
Authors: DÍAZ‐MAROTO M.C. , PÉREZ‐COELLO M.S. , SÁNCHEZ‐PALOMO E. , GONZÁLEZ VIÑAS M.A. 
Published: January 2007

ABSTRACT The effect of drying treatment on the aroma characteristics of rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis L.) was studied using the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) with a trained panel and by Free Choice Profiling (FCP) analysis with a consumer group. Differences between samples were observed after applying Principal Component Analysis to the QDA data and Generalized Procrustes Analysis to the FCP data. The highest differences were found between fresh rosemary samples and dried samples. However, dried samples (obtained by oven‐drying at 45C and commercial samples purchased at the markets and stored for 6 months) showed significant differences in their sensory characteristics. Odor detection thresholds of the fresh rosemary leaves were calculated in water and in potato sauce, and significant differences were found.
SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF EZINE CHEESE
Authors: KARAGUL‐YUCEER YONCA , ISLETEN MUGE , UYSAL‐PALA CIGDEM 
Published: January 2007

ABSTRACTEzine cheese is a full‐fat, white pickled cheese ripened in tinplate containers. A mixture of milks from goat, sheep and cow is used to make Ezine cheese. It has its own characteristic taste and aroma that differ from other white cheeses. In this study, the chemical composition and sensory attributes of Ezine cheese were characterized. A descriptive sensory evaluation technique was used to determine flavor and texture characteristics. Representative Ezine cheeses (22) were provided by local producers. A highly trained (n = 9) panel generated the descriptive terms and identified the references. Fourteen flavors and 10 texture terms were developed to describe Ezine cheese flavor and texture. Some characteristic flavor and taste descriptors for Ezine cheese were free fatty acids, cooked, creamy, whey‐like, goaty, salty and sour. Cheese texture was evaluated using hand, mouth and residual techniques. Texture analysis indicated that Ezine cheese had soft and semi‐hard texture properties. In general, most of the Ezine cheeses showed similarities in terms of hand firmness, mouth firmness, fracturability and number of particles attributes.
Depressed contractile reserve and impaired calcium handling of cardiac myocytes from chronically unloaded hearts are ameliorated with the administration of physiological treatment dose of T3 in rats
Authors: Minatoya Y. , Ito K. , Kagaya Y. , Asaumi Y. , Takeda M. , Nakayama M. , Takahashi J. , Iguchi A. , Shirato K. , Shimokawa H. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractAim:  Chronic cardiac unloading causes a time‐dependent upregulation of phospholamban (PLB) and depression of myocyte contractility in normal rat hearts. As thyroid hormone is known to decrease PLB expression, we examined whether thyroid hormone restores the depressed contractile performance of myocytes from chronically unloaded hearts.Methods:  Cardiac unloading was induced by heterotopic heart transplantation in isogenic rats for 5 weeks. Animals were treated with either vehicle or physiological treatment dose of 3,5,3′‐triiodo‐l‐thyronine (T3) that does not cause hyperthyroidism for the last 3 weeks (n = 20 each).Results:  In vehicle‐treated animals, myocyte relaxation and [Ca2+]i decay were slower in unloaded hearts than in recipient hearts. Myocyte shortening in response to high [Ca2+]o was also depressed with impaired augmentation of peak‐systolic [Ca2+]i in unloaded hearts compared with recipient hearts. In vehicle‐treated rats, protein levels of PLB were increased by 136% and the phosphorylation level of PLB at Ser16 were decreased by 32% in unloaded hearts compared with recipient hearts. By contrast, in the T3‐treated animals, the slower relaxation, delayed [Ca2+]i decay, and depressed contractile reserve in myocytes from unloaded hearts were all returned to normal levels. Furthermore, in the T3‐treated animals, there was no difference either in the PLB protein level or in its Ser16‐phosphorylation level between unloaded and recipient hearts.Conclusion:  These results suggest that the treatment with physiological treatment dose of thyroid hormone rescues the impaired myocyte relaxation and depressed contractile reserve at least partially through the restoration of PLB protein levels and its phosphorylation state in chronically unloaded hearts.