bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Parental oral health care of mentally retarded children in Ilala municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Authors: Kahabuka FK , Ndalahwa M 
Published: July 2006

Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate oral hygiene practices and oral health care given by parents to mentally retarded children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: A total of 140 questionnaires were distributed; only 100 questionnaires were completed and thus were included in the analysis, a 71.4% response rate. Questionnaires inquired on oral hygiene practices, supervision or assistance during tooth brushing, examination of the oral cavity, and measures taken in an event of oral health problems. Results: Sixty‐five per cent of the children are able to brush their teeth, whereas 35% are brushed by a family member. About 74% of the children who brush themselves brush occasionally or once per day while 26% brush more than once per day. More than 58% of the children who brush themselves brush under supervision. A statistically significant difference was observed in respect of bleeding on brushing which was among 61% of the children who brush occasionally or once per day and among 29% of the children who brush more than once per day (Pearson χ2 = 5.13, P = 0.024). Sixty‐four per cent of parents occasionally examine their children's oral cavity. Few parents take their children to a dentist in an event of toothache/cavity on a tooth (26%) or bleeding on brushing (37%). Conclusion: Most children are able to brush their teeth themselves. Majority of those who cannot brush are assisted. Bleeding on brushing and tooth cavities are common problems but few children are taken to a dentist for care.
Special features of topical and systemic dermatologic therapy in children
Authors: Lukas Anne , Wolf Gerd , Fölster‐Holst Regina 
Published: July 2006

SummarySince children differ greatly from adults in terms of physiology and pathophysiology, which in turn influences pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, pediatric clinical trials on the effectiveness and safety of drugs must be supported. Such studies are still lacking. To avoid excluding pediatric patients from the benefit of optimal treatment, treatment strategies for children are often derived from trials with adult patients. Pediatric prescribing is also assisted by years of experience in the use of drugs and empirical data found in the literature.This article discusses typical side effects that can occur with pediatric topical and systemic drug use. Salicylic acid and lindane intoxication are discussed as are Reye syndrome after taking acetylsalicylic acid to treat viral infection. Additional examples and tables listing drugs often used in pediatric dermatology as well as general information on prescribing off‐label pharmaceuticals should help children with skin disorders benefit from effective and tolerable treatment.
Acne infantum as presenting symptom of congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11‐beta‐hydroxylase deficiency
Authors: Harde Viola , Müller Marina , Sippell Wolfgang G. , Schwarz Thomas , Fölster‐Holst Regina 
Published: July 2006

SummaryInfantile acne is a rare condition which usually begins after the third month of life and appears mainly on the cheeks. Spontaneous healing typically occurs within 2 years. A 2‐year‐old boy developed acne infantum during the first days after birth; it failed to respond to topical treatment. Detailed physical examination and endocrinologic evaluation confirmed the presumed diagnosis of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), and showed it was caused by 11‐beta‐hydroxylase deficiency.CAH comprises a group of autosomal‐recessively inherited disorders. These hereditary enzyme defects in steroid biosynthesis cause glucocorticoid deficiency and an overproduction of biosynthetic precursor steroids. Adrenal androgen biosynthesis is not impaired but shows a massive reactive overproduction due to the increased ACTH secretion within the up‐regulated hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal system. The characteristic features of CAH in male infants are demonstrated on the basis of this case report.
Trichophyton eboreum– A recently described dermatophyte
Authors: Brasch Jochen , Gräser Yvonne 
Published: July 2006

Summary Background: The distribution of distinct species of dermatophytes is continuously changing and different species of dermatophytes can cause the same type of tinea. Therefore, it is necessary to always identify the pathogenic agents in dermatophytoses. Patients and methods: An unusual fungus was isolated from moccasin type tinea pedis in a HIV‐positive immunocompromised patient from the Ivory Coast and characterized by morphological, physiological and genetic methods. Results: The strain under study showed typical characteristics of dermatophytes but considering all its morphologic, physiologic and genetic features it unambiguously differed from all previously described species. Conclusion: The strain was recently described as a new dermatophyte species (Trichophyton eboreum). Distribution and pathogenicity of this species are as yet unknown.
A chromosomal event resulting in possession and expression of multiple HLA‐B and Cw genes in a renal patient
Authors: Poole K. , Montague B. , Roberts R. , Stoves J. , Bendukidze N. , Clark B. 
Published: July 2006

SummaryRoutine HLA typing of a renal patient for purposes of registration for transplantation revealed an unusual human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐B and Cw genotype, with three specificities detected. Results were confirmed in a second sample, and in a second laboratory. The possibility of these results reflecting a chimaeric state was rejected following short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. Although cytogenetic analysis has failed to detect a chromosomal abnormality, these findings support the view that the aberrant expression of HLA in this patient resulted from an unequal crossover event, occurring during meiosis in a previous generation.
DRB3.2 gene polymorphism and its association with pashmina production in Changthangi goat
Authors: Sheikh F. D. , Bhattacharya T. K. , Kumar P. , Sharma A. 
Published: July 2006

Summary PstI and TaqI restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of caprine DRB3.2 revealed three genotypes under each RFLP in Changthangi goat. The genotypic and allelic frequency in PstI RFLP was calculated as 0.07, 0.72 and 0.20 for PP, Pp and pp genotypes and 0.43 and 0.57 for P and p alleles. In TaqI RFLP the frequencies were observed as 0.11, 0.61 and 0.27 for TT, Tt and tt genotypes and 0.41, 0.59 for T and t alleles. Alignment study indicates variability of nucleotides and amino acids between alleles and different breeds of goats. The nucleotide sequences reported in this paper have been submitted to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory GenBank and the accession numbers were AY496935, AY496061 and AY496062. A significant affect (P ≤ 0.05) of MHC DRB3.2 PstI polymorphism was found on the first and second year of pashmina production.
SiPep: a system for the prediction of tissue‐specific minor histocompatibility antigens
Authors: Halling‐Brown M. , Quartey‐Papafio R. , Travers P. J. , Moss D. S. 
Published: July 2006

SummaryApproximately 50 years ago it was found that inbred strains of mice were able to reject tumours and skin grafts from major histocompatibility complex (MHC) identical donors. They proposed that additional transplantation antigens must exist outside the MHC. These were described as minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAgs). Since then, related studies in humans have identified 16 human mHAgs. The aim of this work is to increase the number of known mHAgs by prediction of candidate minor histocompatibility loci by identifying coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) where the amino acid variation lies within an MHC‐binding peptide and alters the ability of that peptide to bind.We have developed an algorithm called SiPep which uses peptide sequences derived from the flanking regions of known non‐synonymous SNPs, various MHC‐binding and proteolytic cleavage evaluation methods and protein expression data to predict mHAgs. We have processed 45094 SNPs using the SiPep algorithm and have stored the results in a database called SNPBinder. The facilities to process submitted proteins through the SiPep algorithm as well as the SNPBinder database are available to the public. A set of peptides that are predicted as possible mHAgs by the SiPep algorithm have been tested using refolding assays and gel filtration and the results are presented in this paper.The SiPep tools and SNPBinder database are available free of charge via the internet. An HTML interface providing search facilities can be found at the following address: http://www.sipep.org/.
A functional variant in the CARD4 gene and risk of premature coronary heart disease
Authors: El Mokhtari N. E. , Ott S. J. , Nebel A. , Simon R. , Schreiber S. 
Published: July 2006

SummaryInfection and innate immunity have been suggested as playing an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The recently discovered pattern‐recognition receptor (PRR) proteins initiate signalling after host–pathogen interactions and several PRRs, especially the Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4), have been shown to be involved in the development and progression of atherosclerosis. A new addition to the PRRs is CARD4, a gene that encodes the protein nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain 1 (NOD1) and that seems to be associated with barrier function in chronic inflammatory disorders. Recently, a functional variant in the CARD4 gene, the insertion–deletion polymorphism ND1+32656, has been associated with inflammatory barrier diseases (inflammatory bowel diseases and asthma). We analysed the frequencies of this known functional mutation in the CARD4 gene and of the two adjacent variants, rs2075822 and rs2907748, in a German sample of 1440 unrelated early onset coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and healthy controls. Genotype and haplotype data showed no evidence for a significant association of these CARD4 variants with CHD. Our results suggest that the analysed CARD4 mutations do not play a major role in the aetiology of CHD.
Effect of copper on the development, protein and esterase isozymes ofDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: DING Ling , WANG Yufeng 
Published: July 2006

AbstractCopper is an important ingredient in fungicides, which are used for many economic plants. However, there is concern about the side‐effects of copper‐based fungicides due to their potential to affect beneficial mites. The purpose of the present paper was to investigate the effects of copper on the development of the fruit fly,Drosophila melanogaster.It was found that higher doses of copper significantly prolonged the developmental time of the fruit flies, especially during the larval stages. When 320 mg L‐1copper‐contaminated food was used, most of the larvae died when they were small and before the pupal stage. The protein contents and esterase isozymes extracted from the larvae changed according to the doses of copper. The small‐molecular‐weight protein bands gradually became weaker or were lost as the copper levels increased. However, low doses of copper stimulated a stronger expression of a few proteins. These results indicate that low doses of copper generally have no lethal effects onD. melanogasterbecause a specific group of genes, which encode specific proteins, are probably activated in order to withstand the onslaught of stressful conditions. At high doses of copper in food (e.g. 320 mg L‐1), fly development and viability are significantly affected.
Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums (OZCAM): a national approach to making zoological data available on the web
Authors: WALLIS Elycia J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMuseums increasingly seek to publish data on the internet. However, individual records from a natural sciences database are not meaningful. The combined results of a number of datasets can be made much more meaningful by using a graphical display. In this paper, a project undertaken by a group of Australian natural sciences collecting institutions is described. Issues about data quality and other aspects of data management are discussed.
Muscle protein expression of pikeperches (Stizostedion lucioperca and S. volgense)
Authors: ISLAM Asiful 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the muscle protein expression in two pikeperches (Stizostedion lucioperca and S. volgense) through intra‐ and intermyomeric composition of white muscles. Using denaturing 10% sodium dodecylsulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, muscle protein expression was studied in relation to within‐ and between‐species morphological development, sex, maturity and age of pikeperches. Myosin, actin and troponin have a distinct role in the contraction and length tension of muscle fibers of these species. No obvious intramyomeric differences were found in the myosin heavy chain of both species. Myosin light chains (15–38 kDa) have different expression in different age groups. The muscle protein of the fingerling and adult S. lucioperca had high molecular weight (50 kDa) myosin in contrast to the other Percid species. The molecular weight of actins increased comparatively in low‐age‐group fish. ATP is stored in myosin and released to cause contraction when myosin comes in contact with actin of the experimental fish. Troponin regulates increasing concentration of light‐chain myosin in mature fish. Because troponin T has been implicated in the regulation of skeletal muscle kinetics, muscle contraction kinetics was predicted in different age groups. The muscle proteins of both sexes of these species have polymorphism in various age groups but have no difference in similar aged fish. No muscle protein dimorphism was found in these Percid species. The white muscle protein composition and contractile properties affect power production during fast, unsteady movement and swimming.
The effectiveness of graded activity for low back pain in occupational healthcare
Authors: Steenstra I A , Anema J R , Bongers P M , de Vet H C W , Knol D L , van Mechelen W 
Published: July 2006

Background:Low back pain is a common medical and social problem associated with disability and absence from work. Knowledge on effective return to work (RTW) interventions is scarce.Objective:To determine the effectiveness of graded activity as part of a multistage RTW programme.Design:Randomised controlled trial.Setting:Occupational healthcare.Subjects:112 workers absent from work for more than eight weeks due to low back pain were randomised to either graded activity (n = 55) or usual care (n = 57).Intervention:Graded activity, a physical exercise programme aimed at RTW based on operant-conditioning behavioural principles.Main outcome measures:The number of days off work until first RTW for more then 28 days, total number of days on sick leave during follow up, functional status, and severity of pain. Follow up was 26 weeks.Results:Graded activity prolonged RTW. Median time until RTW was equal to the total number of days on sick leave and was 139 (IQR = 69) days in the graded activity group and 111 (IQR = 76) days in the usual care group (hazard ratio = 0.52, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.86). An interaction between a prior workplace intervention and graded activity, together with a delay in the start of the graded activity intervention, explained most of the delay in RTW (hazard ratio = 0.86, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.84 without prior intervention and 0.39, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.81 with prior intervention). Graded activity did not improve pain or functional status clinically significantly.Conclusions:Graded activity was not effective for any of the outcome measures. Different interventions combined can lead to a delay in RTW. Delay in referral to graded activity delays RTW. In implementing graded activity special attention should be paid to the structure and process of care.
Cancer incidence among semiconductor and electronic storage device workers
Authors: Bender T J , Beall C , Cheng H , Herrick R F , Kahn A R , Matthews R , Sathiakumar N , Schymura M J , Stewart J H , Delzell E 
Published: July 2006

Aims:To evaluate cancer incidence among workers at two facilities in the USA that made semiconductors and electronic storage devices.Methods:89 054 men and women employed by International Business Machines (IBM) were included in the study. We compared employees’ incidence rates with general population rates and examined incidence patterns by facility, duration of employment, time since first employment, manufacturing era, potential for exposure to workplace environments other than offices and work activity.Results:For employees at the semiconductor manufacturing facility, the standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for all cancers combined was 81 (1541 observed cases, 95% confidence interval (CI) 77 to 85) and for those at the storage device manufacturing facility the SIR was 87 (1319 observed cases, 95% CI 82 to 92). The subgroups of employees with ≥15 years since hiring and ≥5 years worked had 6–16% fewer total incidents than expected. SIRs were increased for several cancers in certain employee subgroups, but analyses of incidence patterns by potential exposure and by years spent and time since starting in specific work activities did not clearly indicate that the excesses were due to occupational exposure.Conclusions:This study did not provide strong or consistent evidence of causal associations with employment factors. Data on employees with long potential induction time and many years worked were limited. Further follow-up will allow a more informative analysis of cancer incidence that might be plausibly related to workplace exposures in the cohort.
The risk of lung cancer with increasing time since ceasing exposure to asbestos and quitting smoking
Authors: Reid A , de Klerk N H , Ambrosini G L , Berry G , Musk A W 
Published: July 2006

Objectives:To examine if the risk of lung cancer declines with increasing time since ceasing exposure to asbestos and quitting smoking, and to determine the relative asbestos effect between non-smokers and current smokers.Methods:A cohort study of 2935 former workers of the crocidolite mine and mill at Wittenoom, who responded to a questionnaire on smoking first issued in 1979 and on whom quantitative estimates of asbestos exposure are known. Conditional logistic regression was used to relate asbestos exposure, smoking category, and risk of lung cancer.Results:Eighteen per cent of the cohort reported never smoking; 66% of cases and 50% of non-cases were current smokers. Past smokers who ceased smoking within six years of the survey (OR = 22.1, 95% CI 5.6 to 87.0), those who ceased smoking 20 or more years before the survey (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 0.50 to 7.2), and current smokers (<20 cigarettes per day (OR = 6.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 22.7) or >20 cigarettes per day (OR = 13.2, 95% CI 4.1 to 42.5)) had higher risks of lung cancer compared to never smokers after adjusting for asbestos exposure and age. The asbestos effect between non-smokers and current smokers was 1.23 (95% CI 0.35 to 4.32).Conclusion:Persons exposed to asbestos and tobacco but who subsequently quit, remain at an increased risk for lung cancer up to 20 years after smoking cessation, compared to never smokers. Although the relative risk of lung cancer appears higher in never and ex-smokers than in current smokers, those who both smoke and have been exposed to asbestos have the highest risk; this study emphasises the importance of smoking prevention and smoking cessation programmes within this high risk cohort.
Combination Therapy with Anti–CTL Antigen-4 and Anti-4-1BB Antibodies Enhances Cancer Immunity and Reduces Autoimmunity
Authors: Kocak Ergun , Lute Kenneth , Chang Xing , May Kenneth F. , Exten Katie R. , Zhang Huiming , Abdessalam Shahab F. , Lehman Amy M. , Jarjoura David , Zheng Pan , Liu Yang 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe majority of cancer antigens identified thus far have limited expression in normal tissues. It has been suggested that autoimmune disease is a necessary price for cancer immunity. This notion is supported by a recent clinical trial involving an anti–CTL antigen-4 (CTLA-4) antibody that showed significant clinical responses but severe autoimmune diseases in melanoma patients. To selectively modulate cancer immunity and autoimmunity, we used anti-CTLA-4 and anti-4-1BB antibodies to treat mice with a preexisting cancer, MC38. The combination of the two antibodies led to CD8 T-cell-mediated rejection of large established MC38 tumors and long-lasting immunity to the same tumor cells, although the same regimen was not effective for B16 melanoma. More importantly, whereas individual antibodies induced inflammation and autoimmune manifestations, combination therapy increased cancer immunity while reducing autoimmunity. The reduction of autoimmune effects correlates with an increased function of regulatory T cells. Our results suggest a novel approach to simultaneously enhance cancer immunity and reduce autoimmunity. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(14): 7276-84)
Oncolytic Capacity of Attenuated Replicative Semliki Forest Virus in Human Melanoma Xenografts in Severe Combined Immunodeficient Mice
Authors: Vähä-Koskela Markus J.V. , Kallio Janne P. , Jansson Linda C. , Heikkilä Jari E. , Zakhartchenko Vasily A. , Kallajoki Markku A. , Kähäri Veli-Matti , Hinkkanen Ari E. 
Published: July 2006

Abstract
Oncolytic viruses have gained attention as a novel form of cancer treatment. Many viral vectors in use today have been rendered safe by deletion of genes encoding viral structural proteins, thus making them unable to spread beyond the first infected cells. Hence, such replication-deficient constructs may lack efficacy. Here, we analyzed the oncolytic potential of the replication-competent vector VA7-EGFP, based on the avirulent Semliki Forest virus (SFV) strain A7(74), to kill cancer cells in culture as well as to target s.c. human melanoma xenografts in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. VA7-EGFP was able to infect most cancer cell lines studied, leading to complete lysis of the cells within 72 hours after infection. In SCID mice grafted with A2058 human melanoma, marked regression of the xenografts was observed following a single injection of 106 plaque-forming units of virus given either i.p., i.v., or intratumorally. Histologic analysis revealed the presence of virus not only in all treated tumors but also in the brains of the treated mice, causing progressing neuropathology beginning at day 16 after infection. Following initial oncolysis, clusters of viable tumor cells were observed embedded in connective tissue, and at later stages, encapsulated tumor nodules had formed. Infection of melanoma cells from explant cultures of these nodules revealed that a portion of the cells were resistant to virus. To be eligible for use in virotherapy, the ability of avirulent SFV to spread within tumor tissue may have to be improved and the biological safety of the virus may have to be addressed thoroughly in higher animals. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(14): 7185-94)