bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pilot-scale conversion of lime-treated wheat straw into bioethanol: quality assessment of bioethanol and valorization of side streams by anaerobic digestion and combustion
Authors: Maas Ronald HW , Bakker Robert R , Boersma Arjen R , Bisschops Iemke , Pels Jan R , de Jong Ed , Weusthuis Ruud A , Reith Hans 
Published: August 2008

AbstractIntroductionThe limited availability of fossil fuel sources, worldwide rising energy demands and anticipated climate changes attributed to an increase of greenhouse gasses are important driving forces for finding alternative energy sources. One approach to meeting the increasing energy demands and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is by large-scale substitution of petrochemically derived transport fuels by the use of carbon dioxide-neutral biofuels, such as ethanol derived from lignocellulosic material.ResultsThis paper describes an integrated pilot-scale process where lime-treated wheat straw with a high dry-matter content (around 35% by weight) is converted to ethanol via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation by commercial hydrolytic enzymes and bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). After 53 hours of incubation, an ethanol concentration of 21.4 g/liter was detected, corresponding to a 48% glucan-to-ethanol conversion of the theoretical maximum. The xylan fraction remained mostly in the soluble oligomeric form (52%) in the fermentation broth, probably due to the inability of this yeast to convert pentoses. A preliminary assessment of the distilled ethanol quality showed that it meets transportation ethanol fuel specifications. The distillation residue, which contained non-hydrolysable and non-fermentable (in)organic compounds, was divided into a liquid and solid fraction. The liquid fraction served as substrate for the production of biogas (methane), whereas the solid fraction functioned as fuel for thermal conversion (combustion), yielding thermal energy, which can be used for heat and power generation.ConclusionBased on the achieved experimental values, 16.7 kg of pretreated wheat straw could be converted to 1.7 kg of ethanol, 1.1 kg of methane, 4.1 kg of carbon dioxide, around 3.4 kg of compost and 6.6 kg of lignin-rich residue. The higher heating value of the lignin-rich residue was 13.4 MJ thermal energy per kilogram (dry basis).
siRNA directed against c-Myc inhibits proliferation and downregulates human telomerase reverse transcriptase in human colon cancer Colo 320 cells
Authors: Hao Huang , Nancai Yu , Lei Fu , Xiong Wei , Wen Su , Guofu Huang , yanxia Wu , Hanju Huang , Qian Liu , Hong Xiao 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
The c-Myc and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) gene are frequently deregulated and overexpressed in malignancy. hTERT activity is induced by c-Myc and strategies designed to inhibit c-Myc expression in cancer cells may have considerable therapeutic value. We designed and used a short hairpin RNA to inhibit c-Myc expression in Colo 320 cells and validated its effect on cell proliferation. In this study, four c-Myc-shRNA expression vectors were constructed and introduced into Colo 320 cells. The effects of c-Myc silencing on tumor cell growth was assessed by soft agar assay and DNA synthesis experiments. The expressions of c-Myc and hTERT were also assessed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Upon transient transfection with plasmid encoding shRNA, it was found that expression of c-Myc and hTERT decreased in shRNA-transfected cells. The downregulation of c-Myc and hTERT inhibited cell growth, shortened telomere lengths, and suppressed telomerase activity. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that shRNA of c-Myc can inhibit the DNA replication in Colo 320 cells effectively and reduce telomere length and telomerase activity, therefore, it could be used as a new potential anticancer tool for therapy of human colon cancer.
Plantar calcaneal spurs in older people: longitudinal traction or vertical compression?
Authors: Menz Hylton B , Zammit Gerard V , Landorf Karl B , Munteanu Shannon E 
Published: August 2008

AbstractBackgroundPlantar calcaneal spurs are common, however their pathophysiology is poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of plantar calcaneal spurs in a large sample of older people.MethodsWeightbearing lateral foot radiographs of 216 people (140 women and 76 men) aged 62 to 94 years (mean age 75.9, SD 6.6) were examined for plantar calcaneal and Achilles tendon spurs. Associations between the presence of spurs and sex, body mass index, radiographic measures of foot posture, self‐reported co‐morbidities and current or previous heel pain were then explored.ResultsOf the 216 participants, 119 (55%) had at least one plantar calcaneal spur and 103 (48%) had at least one Achilles tendon spur. Those with plantar calcaneal spurs were more likely to have Achilles tendon spurs (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2 to 3.5). Prevalence of spurs did not differ according to sex. Participants with plantar calcaneal spurs were more likely to be obese (OR = 7.9, 95% CI 3.6 to 17.0), report osteoarthritis (OR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.8) and have current or previous heel pain (OR = 4.6, 95% CI 2.3 to 9.4). No relationship was found between the presence of calcaneal spurs and radiographic measures of foot posture.ConclusionCalcaneal spurs are common in older men and women and are related to obesity, osteoarthritis and current or previous heel pain, but are unrelated to radiographic measurements of foot posture. These findings support the theory that plantar calcaneal spurs may be an adaptive response to vertical compression of the heel rather than longitudinal traction at the calcaneal enthesis.
Anejaculation as an atypical presentation of prostate cancer: a case report
Authors: Mufti Uwais , Ghani Khurshid R , Samman Rateb , Virdi Jaspal , Potluri Bernard 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
Anejaculation may occur as a result of neurological disease, iatrogenic injury or be drug induced. We report a case of a 66 year old man who presented with anejaculation following an emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Due to an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, the patient underwent a prostate biopsy and was diagnosed with a prostate adenocarcinoma. This was effectively managed using active surveillance, a treatment modality that aims to select only those patients with significant cancer for radical treatment. Despite the possible cause of anejaculation to be iatrogenic, the reader should be aware that prostate cancer may co-exist in, or cause any disorder of the lower urinary tract.
EEG Evaluation of a Sleep Recorder
Authors: Johnson J. , Lockwood P. 
Published: August 2008

Sleep disorders are important diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of many common psychiatric syndromes. Clinicians have to be content with the patients' own assessment of their sleep patterns, or at the best, those of a night nurse; both methods are known to be unreliable, particularly where insomnia is present (Kuper et al., 1970). In a previous paper, Johnson and Kitching (1972) described a simple device for assessing the duration of sleep in ward situations. It depended upon the patient's ability to signal wakefulness by pressing a mechanical switch in response to an intermittent light stimulus throughout the night. This was considered to indicate a level of cerebral arousal compatible with wakefulness: failure to respond to the light stimulus indicated that the patient's level of cerebral arousal was lowered to the level of ‘sleep‘. A number of objections were anticipated, however, which might invalidate these assumptions. Most important of these were:
(i)The intermittent occurrence of the light stimulus, every 15–20 minutes, limits the device to an approximation of the duration of sleep. The system of scoring was to assume a period of 10 minutes of sleep on either side of a missed stimulus.(ii)The possibility that the patient could press the mechanical switch in response to the light stimulus whilst in Stage I or even Stage II of sleep (Rechtschaffen et al., 1968) without returning to wakefulness.(iii)The intermittent light stimulus might itself act as a disruptive stimulus to sleep, producing arousal and thus altering the sleep level.
The Urban Distribution of Non-Fatal Deliberate Self-Harm
Authors: Morgan H. Gethin , Pocock Helen , Pottle Susan 
Published: August 2008

Summary1. The incidence of non-fatal deliberate self-harm throughout the City of Bristol during 1972 and 1973 was assessed by means of a survey of patients presenting to Accident and Emergency Departments of hospitals in the area. Fatal or repeated acts of self-harm were not included in the survey. 2. The rates for females exceeded those for males at all ages, with peak incidence of 645 per 100,000 females (age group 15–29 years) and 334 per 100,000 males (age group 25–29 years). Ninety-three per cent had taken a drug overdose of some kind. 3. The problem was found in all electoral wards of the city, though its distribution was markedly centripetal, with a central area having morbidity rates up to 2.8 times that for the city as a whole. 4. The socio-economic correlates of deliberate self-harm were examined by reference both to a series of 368 patients interviewed soon after the event and to the pattern of its distribution throughout the city. A significant positive association was found with areas of overcrowding, lack of exclusive domestic amenities and high proportion of foreign born residents, but there was no correlation with the proportion of persons living alone nor with the type of accommodation. 5. The central high rate area was found to be heterogeneous in socio-economic terms, ranging from a student and young professionals' bed-sitter area to one with a high proportion of unskilled manual labourers and New Commonwealth immigrants. 6. The aetiological implications of the ecological findings for deliberate self-harm throughout the city are discussed.
Mental and Psychomotor Speed in Depression and Mania
Authors: Blackburn Ivy M. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryMental and psychomotor speed scores were obtained for three affectively ill groups of bipolar depression, unipolar depression and bipolar mania, and three corresponding recovered groups.Comparisons were made among ill groups, among recovered groups, and between ill and recovered groups for each illness type. The following conclusions were drawn:
1.Though manic patients solve problems quicker than those of either depressed group, they do not differ much from normals.2.With stress to work faster, the patients in the two depressed groups can quicken their speed of work and bring it up to the level of the manic patients, even though the latter also increase their speed.3.On a psychomotor speed task, the bipolar depressives are significantly slower than the manics and the unipolar depressives, who do not differ. ‘Internal distraction’ causes a slight increase in speed in all three groups, with no significant difference, but ‘external distraction’ speeds up the bipolar groups and slows down the unipolar depressives, resulting in significant differences between the bipolars on the one hand and the unipolars on the other.4.All recovered groups perform at the same level on all measures.5.Comparison between ill and recovered groups seems to indicate that a manic illness does not affect mental or psychomotor speed significantly when tested objectively. Unipolar depression also does not seem to affect speed functions very significantly, but bipolar depression does decrease both mental and psychomotor speed significantly. Thus only bipolar depressive patients seem to show true retardation, and manic patients do not show the opposite of retardation.
Stress in Schizophrenics and Normals
Authors: Serban George 
Published: August 2008

SummaryThis paper presents findings related to the measure of stress in 641 schizophrenics (125 acutes and 516 chronics) and 95 comparable normals. Stress was defined as an imbalance between environmental demands and the respondent's ability to meet that demand successfully, and was measured in terms of level of stress experienced in relation to specific problem situations. Twenty-one dimensions of stress were measured, subsumed under the following four general areas: social performance, family interaction, social interpersonal interaction, and social maladaptive activities.Results indicated that, in general, normals experience significantly less stress in dealing with life events than do schizophrenics. Within the schizophrenic group, the pseudo ambulatory chronic patients evidenced more stress than did their acute counterparts, a finding not previously described in the literature.Implications of these findings do not support the present community after-care concepts. Discharged chronic schizophrenics appear unable to remain in the community for any reasonable period of time because of the high level of stress under which they function.
Eeg Features of Depressive and Schizophrenic States
Authors: Scott D. F. , Schwartz Martin S. 
Published: August 2008

Summary25-year-old female patient with a psychotic illness lasting three months in which schizophrenia and depressive episodes occurred was studied by serial EEGs. These were coded, masked and rated in a set way without knowledge of the clinical state. It was found that the schizophrenic state was characterized by a decrease in the amount and poor organization of alpha activity, as well as the occurrence of paroxysmal phenomena in particular atypical spike and wave. In the depressive episode, alpha activity was prominent and only scanty paroxysmal features were seen. Using these criteria a series of EEGs from psychiatric patients were assessed ‘blind’ with a view to separating them into either a schizophrenic or a depressive category. This proved possible in 17 cases (9 depressive and 8 schizophrenic). In only two was the categorization completely misjudged. These results suggest that further detailed study of the EEG, possibly with computer analysis, combined with assessment of the behavioural state might not only yield useful diagnostic information but also lead to a better understanding of the underlying neurophysiological basis of certain mental disorders.
The Brain Stem in Psychosis
Authors: Fisman M. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryThe brain stems of 24 mental hospital patients and 10 control patients were examined. Ten mental hospital patients were either deluded or auditorily hallucinated in clear consciousness, and of this group 8 presented with a diagnosis of schizophrenic syndrome. The nature and significance of lesions found in the midline reticular nuclei and the trigeminal n. are discussed. The results, and the dearth of other published material on this subject, indicate the need for further work in this field.
A Genetic Study of Bipolar Affective Disorder
Authors: James N. MeI. , Chapman C. J. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryA group of 46 bipolar probands and their first degree relatives were studied. A high rate of affective disorder (19.6 per cent) was found, including both unipolar (13.2 per cent) and bipolar (6.4 per cent) types, with females predominating (3: 1). The presence of four father-son pairs suffering from affective disorder made the hypothesis of X-linked dominance untenable. Results compatible with polygenic inheritance were found, using both Slater's and Falconer's methods. There was no evidence for assortative mating or for increased total number of females (both well and ill) among first degree relatives. The probands and affectively ill first degree relatives who have died show an alarmingly high rate of suicide (46 per cent). Other forms of mental disorder, including alcoholism, were no more common than in the rest of the community.
Observations on the Dose Regime of Fluphenazine Decanoate in Maintenance Therapy of Schizophrenia
Authors: Johnson D. A. W. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryAn analysis of the drug regimes prescribed to two separate groups of unselected schizophrenic patients indicates certain trends of clinical importance. The results demonstrate a need for the adoption of a personalized dose regime. The scatter of dose regimes found effective is too great to recommend a standardized approach to the prescription of L.A.P. injections.Two other results of particular significance are that the dose of drug required to control symptoms can be gradually reduced in nearly half of patients, and that helpful trends in prescribing were identified that will help the clinician to abolish side-effects.
Gross-National Study of Diagnosis of the Mental Disorders: A Comparative Psychometric Assessment of Elderly Patients Admitted to Mental Hospitals Serving Queens County, New York, and the Former Borough of Camberwell, London
Authors: Cowan Daphne W. , Copeland J. R. M. , Kelleher M. J. , Kellett J. M. , Gourlay A. J. , Smith A. , Barron G. , De Gruchy J. , Kuriansky Judith , Gurland B. , Sharpe L. , Stiller P. , Simon R. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryIn a cross-national comparison of the frequency of occurrence of various diagnoses among elderly psychiatric patients admitted to public mental hospitals in London and New York, a short battery of psychological tests was administered to all patients independently of psychiatric examination. The psychological assessment was focused on the differentiation between dementing and affective disorders. The test performance showed a highly significant difference between the two groups as diagnosed, and when patients were allocated to groups on the basis of tests alone these allocations showed a high rate of agreement with initial psychiatric diagnosis. There was a similar high rate of agreement between test allocation and hospital diagnosis in the U.K., but this was not so in the U.S.No significant differences were found between the test performance of U.K. and U.S. patients, except on the WAIS Vocabulary and the Angles Error measurement of the Bender-Gestalt test. When the effects of age and Vocabulary score were eliminated these differences disappeared.The hypothesis that the diagnosis of affective disorder would be confirmed by a relatively greater improvement in test performance over time in this group of patients was not upheld by the non-parametric analysis of change scores. However, an analysis of covariance utilizing age and initial score did indicate the expected differential improvement.
A Comparative Psychometric Assessment of Psychogeriatric and Geriatric Patients
Authors: Cowan Daphne W. , Wright Patricia M. , Gourlay A. J. , Smith A. , Barron G. , de Gruchy J. , Copeland J. R. M. , Kelleher M. J. , Kellett J. M. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryA battery of psychological tests was administered on three occasions over a three-month period to 75 patients admitted to a geriatric hospital and 75 patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals serving the same catchment area. The test results, used as an independent criterion, provided evidence that the criteria of psychiatric diagnosis were applied with constancy and accuracy in the two types of hospital, and supported the psychiatrists' findings that there were no strong grounds to believe that elderly patients were being ‘misplaced’ in one or other type of hospital facility.
Genetic Hypotheses and Environmental Factors in the Light of Psychiatric Morbidity in the Families of Schizophrenics
Authors: Kay D. W. K. , Roth M. , Atkinson M. W. , Stephens D. A. , Garside R. F. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryThe hypothesis that schizophrenia and some non-psychotic abnormalities occurring in the close relatives are both manifestations of a unitary ‘schizoid state’ due to a major dominant gene is further examined. Comparisons are made (1) of the observed and expected frequencies of the different types of parent mating; and (2) of the observed and expected risks among sibs in families with neither, or with one or both, of the parents abnormal. It is concluded that the results do not fit well with the model of inheritance of the schizoid state through a major dominant gene.Since some hereditary contribution in schizophrenia can be regarded as established, the excess of personality disorders and heavy drinking in the families is thought to be due to a combination of polygenic inheritance and environmental influences. The findings are regarded only as tentative, but suggest several hypotheses which could be tested.
Psychiatric New-Patient Clinic Non-Attenders
Authors: Whyte R. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryNon-attenders at a psychiatric new-patient clinic were seen and interviewed six weeks after the missed appointment, as were a group of controls who did attend.The non-attenders were more likely to have had frequent changes of occupation or belong to families where this was the case with the family breadwinner; a history of court conviction; and a history of previous psychiatric treatment. They were less likely to have improved since referral to the clinic; and to have a diagnosis of manic depressive psychosis, depressed type.The findings are discussed. There appears to be some self-selection, the most treatable patients keeping their appointments.
Symptomatic Treatment of Agoraphobia and Social Phobias: A Follow-up Study
Authors: Tyrer Peter , Steinberg Derek 
Published: August 2008

Summary1.Twenty-six out of 28 out-patients with agoraphobia and social phobias who had originally been treated with phenelzine or placebo in a double-blind clinical trial were followed up for a mean period of one year. During the follow-up period patients received further pharmacotherapy or behaviour therapy, except that those patients originally receiving placebo were not allowed therapy with monoamine oxidase inhibitors.2.Ratings of phobic and additional symptoms, social adjustment and degree of personality disorder were made after one year by one of the authors (D.S.) who had no prior knowledge of the treatment each patient had received.3.There were no significant differences in any of the ratings between the patients of the two groups, but those originally receiving placebo had more additional treatment in the follow-up period. Patients continuing to receive phenelzine frequently experienced a return of symptoms if the drug was withdrawn before six months treatment had elapsed.4.Degree of personality disorder showed a significant negative correlation (p = –0.6) with improvement in the phenelzine group but not in those receiving placebo originally.5.Improvement in social adjustment items was less than improvement in symptoms at follow-up. The implications of this are discussed.6.The results suggest that phenelzine is of comparable efficacy to other symptomatic treatments for agoraphobia and social phobias, but that it acts mainly by symptom suppression. Prolonged treatment in patients with personality disorders is not indicated, for improvement is less likely and the dangers of dependence are greater.