bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychotic boys performing well in school are at increased risk of suicidal ideation
Authors: Tikkanen Vesa , Alaräisänen Antti , Hakko Helinä , Räsänen Pirkko , Riala Kaisa ,   the STUDY‐70 workgroup
Published: December 2008

Aim:  This study investigated how the level of school performance is associated with suicidal behavior and psychiatric disorders among adolescent psychiatric inpatients aged 12–17 years.Methods:  Data were collected from 508 adolescents (300 girls, 208 boys; age 12–17 years) admitted to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization between April 2001 and March 2006. Information on the adolescents' school performance, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self‐mutilation as well as psychiatric DSM‐IV diagnoses was obtained using the Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School‐Age Children.Results:  An elevated risk of suicidal ideation (OR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.3–10.2, P = 0.017) and of psychotic disorders (OR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.0–10.0, P = 0.048) was observed among male adolescents performing well in school. In addition, adolescents with poor school performance had an increased likelihood of substance‐related disorder both in boys (OR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.1–6.1, P = 0.027) and girls (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.2–5.1, P = 0.011).Conclusions:  Our findings indicate that psychotic inpatient male adolescents performing well in school are at an elevated risk of suicidal ideation. Although good school performance is often considered a marker of high intelligence and good general ability, symptoms of major psychiatric disorders and suicidality need to be taken very seriously among adolescents performing well in school.
Should obesity be the main game? Or do we need an environmental makeover to combat the inflammatory and chronic disease epidemics?
Authors: Egger G. , Dixon J. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryThere is a link between obesity and chronic disease. However, the causal relationship is complicated. Some forms of obesity are associated with low‐level systemic inflammation, which is linked to disease. But lifestyle behaviours that may not necessarily cause obesity (poor diet, inadequate sleep, smoking, etc.) can independently cause inflammation and consequent disease. It is proposed here that it is the environment driving modern lifestyles, which is the true cause of much chronic disease, rather than obesityper se, and that obesity may be a marker of environmental derangement, rather than the primary cause of the problem. Attempts to clinically manage obesity alone on a large scale are therefore unlikely to be successful at the population level without significant lifestyle or environmental change. Environmental factors influencing obesity and health have now also been implicated in ecological perturbations such as climate change, through the shift to positive energy balance in humans caused by the exponential use of fossil fuels in such areas as transport, and consequent rises in carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It is proposed therefore that a more policy‐based approach to dealing with obesity, which attacks the common causes of both biological and ecological ‘dis‐ease’, could have positive effects on both chronic disease and environmental problems. A plea is thus made for a greater health input into discussions on environmental regulation for chronic disease control, as well as climate change.
How the longspur won its spurs: a study of claw and toe length in ground‐dwelling passerine birds
Authors: Green R. E. , Barnes K. N. , Brooke M. de L. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractNoting that some ground‐dwelling passerine birds have remarkably long claws, reflected in such names as longclaw (Motacillidae) and longspur (Emberizidae), this comparative study assessed whether these features might aid movement over grassy ground vegetation. Using measurements of museum specimens, we found that, corrected for body size, larks (Alaudidae) living in grassy habitats (n=31) had significantly longer toes and claws and hence larger footspans than species dwelling on bare substrates (n=25). Using phylogenetically corrected contrasts, the claw result remained strongly significant, and the footspan result marginally significant, while there was no significant difference between the toes of the two groups. Among 15 matched pairs of other ground‐dwelling passerines, where one member of the pair inhabits vegetated ground and the other inhabits bare ground, the former had significantly longer toes and claws and hence larger footspans. We conclude that ground‐dwelling passerines living on vegetated, typically grassy ground, have larger feet, due to both longer toes and claws. This probably facilitates movement over uneven and unstable vegetation.
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor in arterial baroreceptor pathways: implications for activity‐dependent plasticity at baroafferent synapses
Authors: Martin Jessica L. , Jenkins Victoria K. , Hsieh Hui‐ya , Balkowiec Agnieszka 
Published: December 2008

AbstractFunctional characteristics of the arterial baroreceptor reflex change throughout ontogenesis, including perinatal adjustments of the reflex gain and adult resetting during hypertension. However, the cellular mechanisms that underlie these functional changes are not completely understood. Here, we provide evidence that brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin with a well‐established role in activity‐dependent neuronal plasticity, is abundantly expressed in vivo by a large subset of developing and adult rat baroreceptor afferents. Immunoreactivity to BDNF is present in the cell bodies of baroafferent neurons in the nodose ganglion, their central projections in the solitary tract, and terminal‐like structures in the lower brainstem nucleus tractus solitarius. Using ELISA in situ combined with electrical field stimulation, we show that native BDNF is released from cultured newborn nodose ganglion neurons in response to patterns that mimic the in vivo activity of baroreceptor afferents. In particular, high‐frequency bursting patterns of baroreceptor firing, which are known to evoke plastic changes at baroreceptor synapses, are significantly more effective at releasing BDNF than tonic patterns of the same average frequency. Together, our study indicates that BDNF expressed by first‐order baroreceptor neurons is a likely mediator of both developmental and post‐developmental modifications at first‐order synapses in arterial baroreceptor pathways.
Coordination between electoral arenas in multilevel countries
Authors: LAGO IGNACIO , MONTERO JOSÉ RAMÓN 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThis article shows the existence of a coordination dilemma in multilevel countries that hold elections for different parliaments, at different territorial levels and with different electoral rules. With evidence from Spain, the analysis identifies interaction or contamination effects between national and subnational electoral arenas that generate, just as in most mixed‐member electoral systems, a centrifugal force that increases the number of electoral parties in national elections. The incentives that solve this coordination dilemma faced by small regional or local parties are theoretically discussed and empirically tested.
Information, visibility and elections: Why electoral outcomes differ when voters are better informed
Authors: BLAIS ANDRÉ , GIDENGIL ELISABETH , FOURNIER PATRICK , NEVITTE NEIL 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThis article assesses the aggregate effect of information shortfall on the outcome of the last six Canadian elections. Building on Bartels' analysis, the authors find an information effect in three of the six elections examined, and in each case the information gap benefits the Liberal Party. That finding raises the question: why does information matter in some contexts but not in others? It is argued in this article that the information gap is related to lack of visibility. When and where all political parties have some degree of visibility, the less informed vote like the better informed, but when and where a party is hardly visible, the less informed are less likely to support that party. The less informed appear to consider a smaller set of options when they decide how to vote.
THE DISTRIBUTION, MORPHOLOGY, AND ECOLOGY OF THREE INTRODUCED ASIATIC SPECIES OF PORPHYRA (BANGIALES, RHODOPHYTA) IN THE NORTHWESTERN ATLANTIC1
Authors: Neefus Christopher D. , Mathieson Arthur C. , Bray Troy L. , Yarish Charles 
Published: December 2008

Distributions of three Asiatic Porphyra species, Porphyra yezoensis Ueda, Porphyra katadae A. Miura, and Porphyra suborbiculata Kjellm., are reported from New England, USA. Species identifications were confirmed by rbcL and nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer‐1 (ITS1) sequence comparisons with herbarium specimens, cultures, and GenBank accessions. Two distinct genotypes of P. yezoensis were detected: forma narawaensis A. Miura and f. yezoensis. Forma narawaensis occurs south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and has ITS1 sequences identical to cultivars widely grown in Japan. Forma yezoensis occurs in western Long Island Sound and from Cape Cod northward to midcoastal Maine; its ITS1 sequence is identical to a wild specimen from Hokkaido, Japan. P. katadae has been collected from five locations near Cape Cod; its ITS1 sequence is identical to a cultured specimen from Qingdao, China. P. suborbiculata has been collected at several locations south of Cape Cod; its presence in North Carolina and Delaware during the mid‐1960s was confirmed from herbarium specimens. Morphological and ecological characteristics for New England populations of the three Asiatic species were compared to original descriptions. New England P. yezoensis f. yezoensis is similar to Ueda’s original description of Japanese specimens, but there are morphological differences for P. yezoensis f. narawaensis. In New England, f. narawaensis typically does not attain the length reported in Japan (max. 19 cm versus 100 cm). New England P. katadae is similar to Miura’s original description, except for slight differences in thallus thickness and reproductive patterns. By contrast, New England, Japanese, and other populations of P. suborbiculata exhibit pronounced differences in blade coloration, shape and dimensions, reproductive patterns, seasonal occurrence, and general ecology.
Efficiency–equity tradeoffs and the scope for resource reallocation in agricultural research: evidence from Nigeria
Authors: Alene Arega D. , Manyong V. M. , Tollens Eric F. , Abele Steffen 
Published: December 2008

AbstractOn the basis of projected economic and poverty impacts of alternative commodity research programs, this article assessed efficiency and equity tradeoffs and the scope for research resource reallocation in Nigeria. Given the importance of major food staples to both poor and nonpoor households in production and consumption, introducing a poverty dimension revealed no significant shift in priorities compared with those implied by efficiency. The results showed that neither the additional benefits to the poor nor the foregone benefits to society are significant from prioritizing research according to equity—relative to efficiency—criteria. As current priorities are supported by neither efficiency nor equity criteria, however, there is considerable scope for maximizing research benefits to the poor through informed reallocation of research resources. The article concludes with a discussion of the patterns of resource reallocations implied by efficiency and equity criteria.
Agricultural commercialization of Karen Hill tribes in northern Thailand
Authors: Tipraqsa Prasnee , Schreinemachers Pepijn 
Published: December 2008

AbstractBased on a random sample of 240 farm households in Chiang Mai province, Thailand, this study shows that—contrary to widespread belief—Karen farm households are well‐integrated into markets. Average levels of market integration are 31% for gross farm output, 35% for variable inputs, 49% for food consumption, and 80% for net family income. By estimating a two‐stage least squares (2SLS) regression model, this study finds that integration into output markets is positively associated with a diversification of land use away from rice monoculture, more intense contact with nearby urban centers, and a greater number of roads connecting the village to the outside world. Controlling for these factors, the distance to urban centers does not impede market integration; distant villages are equally well integrated into output markets. The study further finds that integration into output markets improves farm productivity and net per capita income. Concerns about market integration are discussed. Results have implications for Thai policy makers who have recently placed increasing emphasis on the concept of “sufficiency economy” in order to promote the well‐being of rural people.
Cool heads: ethical issues associated with therapeutic hypothermia for newborns
Authors: Wilkinson Dominic J 
Published: December 2008

AbstractHypothermia is the first treatment for newborns with hypoxic‐ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) with consistent evidence of a reduction in the risk of death or severe disability. This paper addresses a number of ethical and practical issues faced by clinicians as cooling moves from an experimental treatment into practice. These issues are not unique to therapeutic hypothermia. They include the extrapolation of evidence from trials to clinical care, as well as the impact of hypothermia on prognosis and withdrawal of life‐sustaining treatment.Conclusion: Hypothermia is a promising new therapy, but further research will be necessary to help resolve some of the ethical concerns associated with its use in newborns with HIE .
The mother's immune system is a balanced threat to the foetus, turning to protection of the neonate
Authors: Hanson Lars Å , Silfverdal Sven Arne 
Published: December 2008

AbstractImmunological tolerance by the mother prevents rejection of the foetus, but aberrations may increase risk of abnormalities like spontaneous abortion, or foetal growth restriction.The neonate is normally colonized with mother's gut microflora, mainly composed of protective anaerobes. This least threatening form of microbial colonization of the neonate, is impaired by sectio delivery, but supported by breastfeeding.Mother's transplacental IgG, secretory IgA and other milk components help protect the neonate together with its own slowly expanding immune system.Conclusion: The mother's immune system tolerates her foetus via several mechanisms. Failure to do so may cause foetal growth retardation, or spontaneous abortion. The mother and the neonate cooperate in preventing infections in the offspring.
Renal medullary effects of transient prehypertensive treatment in young spontaneously hypertensive rats
Authors: Baumann M. , Janssen B. J. A. , Rob Hermans J. J. , Bartholome R. , Smits J. F. M. , StruijkerBoudier H. A. J. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractAim:  Transient angiotensin II receptor blockade (ARB) leads to prolonged blood pressure (BP) lowering, but the underlying mechanism remains uncertain. Long‐term BP control is regulated by the medullary microcirculation with the pericyte as contractile cell. We hypothesize that the prolonged BP effect is caused by increased medullary blood flow (MBF) associated with structural alterations based on reduced medullary pericyte number.Methods:  Four‐week‐old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were treated for 4 weeks with losartan (SHR‐Los: 20 mg kg−1 day−1), hydralazine (SHR‐Hyd: 15 mg kg−1 day−1), losartan and pan‐caspase inhibitor zVAD (SHR‐Los + 1 mg kg−1 day−1 zVAD), losartan and glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK) inhibitor valproate (SHR‐Los + 10 mg kg−1 day−1 Val) or placebo. BP, MBF and pericyte number were determined under and after treatment (8 and 12 weeks). Apoptotic pericytes were determined with α‐actin and TUNEL double staining. Sodium concentration was determined in renal medulla and urine.Results:  Antihypertensive treatment equipotently reduced BP at 8 weeks of age. After drug withdrawal (12 weeks of age) BP reduction was restricted to SHR‐Los (SHR‐Los: 153 ± 5, SHR‐Hyd: 177 ± 2, SHR: 184 ± 3 mmHg). Simultaneously, MBF was increased and pericyte number reduced, while medullary and urinary sodium concentration increased. Transient ARB in combination with zVAD or valproate resulted in more medullary pericytes and higher BP (SHR‐Los/zVAD: 164 ± 7; SHR‐Los/Val: 168 ± 6 mmHg) compared with transient ARB alone.Conclusion:  After drug withdrawal, transient ARB leads to increased MBF and is associated with a reduction in medullary pericytes. This may be associated with pericyte apoptosis as anti‐apoptosis during transient ARB increases pericyte number and BP.
Some Formal Aspects of the Theory of Intermolecular Interactions and of the BSSE Problem
Authors: Mayer István 
Published: December 2008

Some results of mathematical character concerning the theory of intermolecular interactions and the BSSE problem are presented. It is shown that the concept of complete basis set may be introduced for intermolecular potential surfaces only by considering explicitly the limiting process in which the basis sets of both monomers approach completeness simultaneously. That does not lead to any overcompleteness problem if we do not postulate the existence of two complete basis sets from the outset. The intimate connection between the BSSE and the differences of some biorthogonal integrals and their "original" counterparts is also discussed. The operator of BSSE is given in terms of such differences. It is shown that in a special case, when only the overlap of the occupied orbitals is considered, the "bi-expectation" value of the energy coincides with the conventional expectation value for the single determinant wave function built up of the unperturbed orbitals of the individual monomers. It is discussed, by using a model of the biorthogonal perturbation theory, why the conceptually fully different a priori (CHA) and a posteriori (CP) schemes of BSSE correction usually give very close numerical results. (The necessary biorthogonal perturbation formalism is developed in the Appendices.) The results give justification for the additivity assumptions inherent in the CP method.
BO3 Molecular Structures: Examples of the Importance of Electron Correlation
Authors: Sokolov Alexander Yu. , Stibrich Nathan J. , Schaefer Henry F. 
Published: December 2008

In 1991 Burkholder and Andrews reported the spectroscopic identification of the boron- oxygen species BO, BO2, B2O2, B2O3, and BO2-. In addition, they tentatively identified two infrared features due to BO3. In this research, a wide range of possible BO3 structures is considered theoretically. The highest level of theory used involves the CCSD(T) method with an augmented correlation consistent quadruple zeta basis set. A planar structure O-B-O-O is predicted to be the global minimum, lying 4.2 kcal mol-1 below a higher symmetry (C2v) structure incorporating a BO2 isosceles triangle. Reasonable agreement is found between the theoretical vibrational frequencies and the two fundamentals reported by Burkholder and Andrews. The potentially important ozone adduct B-O3 is predicted to lie much higher in energy.
“Sharing the impact of the disease”: a workshop on suffering for medical students
Authors: Lewis W , Hawthorne K 
Published: December 2008

Objectives:To investigate the attitudes of early clinical students to the concept of suffering and the work of Eric Cassell.Design:Qualitative case study using group interviews and questionnaires.Setting:A United Kingdom medical school.Participants:Two whole-year cohorts of third-year medical students (n = 557).Interventions:Group interviews involving 57 randomly selected students, with exploration of emergent themes using free text and Lickert scale questionnaires.Results:Students engaged readily with the concept of suffering and were able to identify a patient they had encountered who was suffering. Barriers to student involvement with suffering were identified. Students saw engaging with patient suffering as a clinical skill. Many students saw the ideas of Eric Cassell as plausible, although few were convinced that relief of suffering should be the central goal of medicine.Conclusions:The work of Eric Cassell formed the basis of a teaching intervention with medical students who identified engaging with suffering as a clinical skill.
Pulse Spectrum Analysis, a Faster and Easier Way to Predict Outcome of Sepsis?
Authors: Lin Chien-Jung , Wang Chi-Hsien , Lin Jaung-Geng , Chang Yu-Hsin , Lin Jui-Shan , Su Yi-Chang 
Published: December 2008

In order to provide a faster and easier way for outcome prediction of sepsis, this study aimed to characterize the pattern of arterial pulse spectrum by a rat cecum ligation and puncture (CLP) model and explore whether specific harmonic components of pulse spectrum are associated with the mortality of CLP rats, followed by the comparison of accuracy between these specific variables and IL-6.Nineteen Sprague-Dawley rats receiving CLP were analyzed. Femoral artery of each rat was catheterized for blood pressure recording and blood sampling in the first 24 hours after CLP. The former was for off-line pulse spectrum analysis, and the latter for IL-6 assay. These rats were observed for 3-day mortality after CLP, and were divided into survivor or non-survivor groups. Differences of the hemodynamic profile, IL-6, and changes of the harmonics between the 2 groups were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney test. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to characterize cumulative survival with the best prognostic cutoff point.The characteristic changes of pulse spectrum were different between survivors and non-survivors. The percentage differences of the 2nd harmonic proportion (C2) increased significantly from the 10th hour after CLP, and was higher in the non-survivors. Serum levels of IL-6 were also higher in the non-survivor group. Analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival curve for 3-day mortality, C2 had a higher accuracy than IL-6 as a predictor.The pulse spectrum analysis may be applied to evaluate the prognosis of CLP rats, and the rapidly and highly elevated C2 harmonic had a strong association with the 3-day mortality of CLP rats.
Defining the Cooperative Genetic Changes That Temporally Drive Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma
Authors: Naini Sarasija , Etheridge Katherine T. , Adam Stacey J. , Qualman Stephen J. , Bentley Rex C. , Counter Christopher M. , Linardic Corinne M. 
Published: December 2008

Abstract
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Despite advances in therapy, patients with a histologic variant of RMS known as alveolar (aRMS) have a 5-year survival rate of &lt;30%. aRMS tissues exhibit a number of genetic changes, including loss-of-function of the p53 and Rb tumor suppressor pathways, amplification of MYCN, stabilization of telomeres, and most characteristically, reciprocal translocation of loci involving the PAX and FKHR genes, generating the PAX7-FKHR or PAX3-FKHR fusion proteins. We previously showed that PAX3-FKHR expression in primary human myoblasts, cells that can give rise to RMS, cooperated with loss of p16INK4A to promote extended proliferation. To better understand the genetic events required for aRMS formation, we then stepwise converted these cells to their transformed counterpart. PAX3-FKHR, the catalytic unit of telomerase hTERT, and MycN, in cooperation with down-regulation of p16INK4A/p14ARF expression, were necessary and sufficient to convert normal human myoblasts into tumorigenic cells that gave rise to aRMS tumors. However, the order of expression of these transgenes was critical, as only those cells expressing PAX3-FKHR early could form tumors. We therefore suggest that the translocation of PAX3 to FKHR drives proliferation of myoblasts, and a selection for loss of p16INK4A/p14ARF. These early steps, coupled with MycN amplification and telomere stabilization, then drive the cells to a fully tumorigenic state. [Cancer Res 2008;68(23):9583–8]