bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health problems and help-seeking activities of methadone maintenance clients at Auckland Methadone Service (AMS): potential for community pharmacy service expansion?
Authors: Sheridan Janie , Wheeler Amanda , Walters Carina 
Published: November 2005

Abstract

Background
In general the health of methadone clients has been found to be poorer than that of the general population. In New Zealand specialist drug services are not funded to provide primary healthcare services. Many health conditions could potentially be managed by community pharmacists who have frequent contact with this client group. This study sought to explore the health problems suffered by methadone clients, who they sought help from, and the potential for greater involvement of pharmacists.

Methods
Self-completion questionnaire of methadone maintenance clients managed in specialist care in Auckland, New Zealand.

Results
The most common health problem experienced by these clients in the past three months was sweating (70.0%), and more than half of the respondents also reported experiencing headache, fatigue and depression. The least frequently experienced conditions were hay fever (12.9%) and abscesses (12.1%). Respondents indicated that the top three choices from whom they would seek help were GP (56.7%), the client's partner (31.6%) and community pharmacists (27.9%). Barriers to seeking help from pharmacists included issues around cost, perceptions of pharmacist knowledge and skills, privacy and confidentiality.

Conclusion
Methadone clients in this study indicated that they suffered a number of general health problems, and in many cases were likely to seek help from a GP or their own partner, before seeking help from pharmacists. However, for over one quarter of respondents the pharmacist was in the top three from whom they would seek advice. Any barriers towards consulting pharmacists, in the main seem to be resolvable.
The European DISABKIDS project: development of seven condition-specific modules to measure health related quality of life in children and adolescents
Authors: Baars Rolanda M , Atherton Clare I , Koopman Hendrik M , Bullinger Monika , Power Mick ,   the DISABKIDS group*
Published: November 2005

Abstract

Background
The European DISABKIDS project aims to enhance the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions and their families. We describe the development of the seven cross-nationally tested condition-specific modules of the European DISABKIDS HRQoL instrument in a population of children and adolescents. The condition-specific modules are intended for use in conjunction with the DISABKIDS chronic generic module.

Methods
Focus groups were used to construct the pilot version of the DISABKIDS condition-specific HRQoL modules for asthma, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, atopic dermatitis, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and epilepsy. Analyses were conducted on pilot test data in order to construct field test versions of the modules. A series of factor analyses were run, first, to determine potential structures for each condition-specific module, and, secondly, to select a reduced number of items from the pilot test to be included in the field test. Post-field test analyses were conducted to retest the domain structure for the final DISABKIDS condition-specific modules.

Results
The DISABKIDS condition-specific modules were tested in a pilot study of 360 respondents, and subsequently in a field test of 1152 respondents in 7 European countries. The final condition-specific modules consist of an 'Impact' domain and an additional domain (e.g. worry, stigma, treatment) with between 10 to 12 items in total. The Cronbach's alpha of the final domains was found to vary from 0.71 to 0.90.

Conclusion
The condition-specific modules of the DISABKIDS instrument were developed through a step-by-step process including cognitive interview, clinical expertise, factor analysis, correlations and internal consistency. A cross-national pilot and field test were necessary to collect these data. In general, the internal consistency of the domains was satisfactory to high. In future, the DISABKIDS instrument may serve as a useful tool with which to assess HRQoL in children and adolescents with a chronic condition. The condition-specific modules can be used in conjunction with the DISABKIDS chronic generic module.
Presence of a functional but dispensable Nuclear Export Signal in the HTLV-2 Tax protein
Authors: Chevalier Sébastien A , Meertens Laurent , Calattini Sara , Gessain Antoine , Kiemer Lars , Mahieux Renaud 
Published: November 2005

Abstract

Background
Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 and type 2 are related human retroviruses. HTLV-1 is the etiological agent of the Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma and of the Tropical Spastic Paraparesis/HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy, whereas, HTLV-2 infection has not been formally associated with any T-cell malignancy. HTLV-1 and 2 genomes encode, respectively, the Tax1 and Tax2 proteins whose role is to transactivate the viral promoter. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 Tax sequences display 28% divergence at the amino acid level. Tax1 is a shuttling protein that possesses both a non canonical nuclear import (NLS) and a nuclear export (NES) signal. We have recently demonstrated that Tax1 and Tax2 display different subcellular localization and that residues 90–100 are critical for this process. We investigate in the present report, whether Tax2 also possesses a functional NES.

Results
We first used a NES prediction method to determine whether the Tax2 protein might contain a NES and the results do suggest the presence of a NES sequence in Tax2. Using Green Fluorescent Protein-NES (GFP-NES) fusion proteins, we demonstrate that the Tax2 sequence encompasses a functional NES (NES2). As shown by microscope imaging, NES2 is able to mediate translocation of GFP from the nucleus, without the context of a full length Tax protein. Furthermore, point mutations or leptomycin B treatment abrogate NES2 function. However, within the context of full length Tax2, similar point mutations in the NES2 leucine rich stretch do not modify Tax2 localization. Finally, we also show that Tax1 NES function is dependent upon the positioning of the nuclear export signal "vis-à-vis" GFP.

Conclusion
HTLV-2 Tax NES is functional but dispensable for the protein localization in vitro.
Nipple aspiration and ductal lavage in women with a germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation
Authors: Mitchell Gillian , Antill Yoland C , Murray William , Kirk Judy , Salisbury Elizabeth , Lindeman Geoffrey J , Di Iulio Juliana , Milner Alvin D , Devereaux Lisa , Phillips Kelly-Anne 
Published: November 2005

Abstract
Introduction
The aim of this study was to collect serial samples of nipple aspirate (NA) and ductal lavage (DL) fluid from women with germline BRCA1/2 mutations in order to create a biorepository for use in identifying biomarkers of breast cancer risk.

Methods
Between March 2003 and February 2005, 52 women with germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations (median age 43 years, range 27 to 65 years) were scheduled for six-monthly NA, DL and venesection. DL was attempted for all NA fluid-yielding (FY) and any non-FY ducts that could be located at each visit.

Results
Twenty-seven (52%) women were postmenopausal, predominantly (19/27) from risk reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO). FY ducts were identified in 60% of all women, 76% of premenopausal women versus 44% of postmenopausal (P = 0.026). Eighty-five percent of women had successful DL. Success was most likely in women with FY ducts (FY 94% versus non-FY 71% (P = 0.049). DL samples were more likely to be cellular if collected from FY ducts (FY 68% versus non-FY 43%; P = 0.037). Total cell counts were associated with FY status (FY median cell count 30,996, range 0 to >1,000,000 versus non-FY median cell count 0, range 0 to 173,577; P = 0.002). Four women (8%) had ducts with severe atypia with or without additional ducts with mild epithelial atypia; seven others had ducts with mild atypia alone (11/52 (21%) in total). Median total cell count was greater from ducts with atypia (105,870, range 1920 to >1,000,000) than those with no atypia (174, 0 to >1,000,000; P ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion
It is feasible to collect serial NA and DL samples from women at high genetic risk of breast cancer, and we are creating a unique, prospective collection of ductal samples that have the potential to be used for discovery of biomarkers of breast cancer risk and evaluate the ongoing effects of risk reducing BSO. DL cellular atypia was not predictive of a current breast cancer and longer follow up is needed to determine whether atypia is an additional marker of future breast cancer risk in this population already at high genetic risk of breast cancer.
Calretinin‐immunoreactive unipolar brush cells in the developing human cerebellum
Authors: Víg J. , Takács J. , Ábrahám H. , Kovács G.G. , Hámori J. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractWe have studied the temporal and spatial characteristics of the development of unipolar brush cells (UBCs) in the human cerebellar vermis. Consistently with previous studies in rodents and cat, we have found that unipolar brush cells appear at a relatively late phase of cerebellar development and their development continues up to and beyond the first postnatal year. A series of 23 normal human brains, including 5 adult and 18 fetal or infant brains (between the 24th gestational week and the 11th postnatal month) were used. In order to visualize unipolar brush cells, calretinin‐immunocytochemistry was performed on formaldehyde‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded blocks of the cerebellar vermis. Our results show that calretinin‐immunoreactive unipolar brush cells are not yet present in the cerebellar vermis at the 28th gestational week. At birth, they are present in a relatively small number, mostly in the vestibular lobules. At the 3rd, 5th, 8.5th and 11th postnatal months the number of calretinin‐immunoreactive unipolar brush cells gradually increase, first appearing in the vestibular lobules, followed by the invasion of the later developing vermal lobules, spreading in a rostro‐caudal and proximo‐distal direction. Although at the 11th postnatal month unipolar brush cells exhibited adult‐like morphological and distributional features, their number appeared to be lower than in the adult cerebellum. The late maturation of unipolar brush cells implies that the cytoarchitectonical development of the human cerebellum is not completed by the end of the first postnatal year.
Continuities and Discontinuities: New Research on the History of German Economic Institutions
Authors: KOPPER CHRISTOPHER 
Published: November 2005

Werner Abelshauser, Jan-Otmar Hesse and Werner Plumpe, eds., Wirtschaftsordnung, Staat und Unternehmen. Neue Forschungen zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Nationalsozialismus (Essen: Klartext Verlag, 2003), 392 pp., €29.80 (pb), ISBN 3898612597.Conan Fischer, The Ruhr Crisis 1923–1924 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), £55.00 (hb), ISBN 0198208006.Harold James, The Deutsche Bank and the Economic War against the Jews (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 268 pp., £27.50 (hb), ISBN 0521803292.Reinhard Spree, ed.,Geschichte der deutschen Wirtschaft im 20.Jahrhundert (Munich: C. H. Beck, 2001), 232 pp., €12,50 (pb), ISBN 3406475698.Hans Erich Volkmann, Ökonomie und Expansion. Grundzüge der NS-Wirtschaftspolitik (Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2003), €39.80 (hb), ISBN 3486567144
‘Protein Peeling’: an approach for splitting a 3D protein structure into compact fragments
Authors: Gelly Jean-Christophe , de Brevern Alexandre G. , Hazout Serge 
Published: November 2005

Abstract
Motivation: The object of this study is to propose a new method to identify small compact units that compose protein three-dimensional structures. These fragments, called ‘protein units (PU)’, are a new level of description to well understand and analyze the organization of protein structures. The method only works from the contact probability matrix, i.e. the inter Cα-distances translated into probabilities. It uses the principle of conventional hierarchical clustering, leading to a series of nested partitions of the 3D structure. Every step aims at dividing optimally a unit into 2 or 3 subunits according to a criterion called ‘partition index’ assessing the structural independence of the subunits newly defined. Moreover, an entropy-derived squared correlation R is used for assessing globally the protein structure dissection. The method is compared to other splitting algorithms and shows relevant performance.
Availability: An Internet server with dedicated tools is available at
Contact: debrevern@ebgm.jussieu.fr.
Transformation of accommodation space of the Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation, the Songliao Basin, NE China
Authors: Jiang Zaixing , Lu Hongbo , Yu Wenquan , Sun Yu , Guan Deshi 
Published: November 2005

ABSTRACTAnalysis of accommodation space variation during deposition of the Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation in the Songliao Basin, NE China, indicates that accommodation space changed both through time and across the basin as a seesaw movement. The mid‐upper Qingshankou Formation is divided into three units. In each unit, changes of accommodation space differ in the southern and northern part of the basin. Increasing accommodation in the southern part is accompanied by a decrease in the northern part, and vice versa. Between the northern and southern basin, there was a neutral belt that is like a fulcrum, called the transformation belt here, where the accommodation did not change to any significant degree. We call this response ‘accommodation transformation’, whose characteristics are defined by tectonic subsidence analysis, palaeontological and sedimentary analyses. The accommodation increasing belt, decreasing belt, transformation belt and accommodation transformation boundary together constitute the accommodation transformation system. The recognition of accommodation transformation in the Songliao Basin provides a new insight into sequence stratigraphy and might be widely applicable.
Hydrologic sources of carbon cycling uncertainty throughout the terrestrial–aquatic continuum
Authors: Darrel Jenerette G. , Lal Rattan 
Published: November 2005

AbstractLinking hydrologic interactions with global carbon cycling will reduce the uncertainty associated with scaling‐up empirical studies and facilitate the incorporation of terrestrial–aquatic linkages within global and regional change models. Much of the uncertainty in estimates of carbon fluxes associated with precipitation and hydrologic transport results from the extensive spatial and temporal heterogeneity in both intrinsic functioning and anthropogenic modification of hydrological cycles. To better understand this variation we developed a landscape ecological approach to coupled hydrologic–carbon cycling that merges local mechanisms with multiple‐scale spatial heterogeneity. This spatially explicit framework is applied to examine variability in hydrologic influences on carbon cycling along a continental scale water availability gradient with an explicit consideration of human sources of variability. Hydrologic variation is an important component of the uncertainty in carbon cycling; accounting for this variation will improve understanding of current conditions and projections of future ecosystem responses to global change.
Carbon dioxide and methane exchange of a north‐east Siberian tussock tundra
Authors: Corradi C. , Kolle O. , Walter K. , Zimov S. A. , Schulze E.‐D. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractCarbon dioxide, energy flux measurements and methane chamber measurements were carried out in an arctic wet tussock grassland located on a flood plane of the Kolyma river in NE Siberia over a summer period of 155 days in 2002 and early 2003. Respiration was also measured in April 2004. The study region is characterized by late thaw of the top soil (mid of June) and periodic spring floods. A stagnant water table below the grass canopy is fed by thawing of the active layer of permafrost and by flood water. The climate is continental with average daily temperature in the warmest months of 13°C (maximum temperature at midday: 28°C by the end of July), dry air (maximum vapour pressure deficit at midday: 28 hPa) and low rainfall of 50 mm during summer (July–September). Summer evaporation (July–September: 103 mm) exceeded rainfall by a factor of 2. The daily average Bowen ratio (H/LE) was 0.62 during the growing season. Net ecosystem CO2 uptake reached 10 μmol m−2 s−1 and was related to photon flux density (PFD) and vapour pressure deficit (VPD). The cumulative annual net carbon flux from the atmosphere to the terrestrial surface was estimated to be about −38 g C m−2 yr−1 (negative flux depicts net carbon sink). Winter respiration was extrapolated using the Lloyd and Taylor function. The net carbon balance is composed of a high rate of assimilation in a short summer and a fairly large but uncertain respiration mainly during autumn and spring. Methane flux (about 12 g C m−2 measured over 60 days) was 25% of C uptake during the same period of time (end of July to end of September). Assuming that CH4 was emitted only in summer, and taking the greenhouse gas warming potential of CH4 vs. CO2 into account (factor 23), the study site was a greenhouse gas source (at least 200 g Cequivalent m−2 yr−1). Comparing different studies in wetlands and tundra ecosystems as related to latitude, we expect that global warming would rather increase than decrease the CO2‐C sink.
Decontamination of deboned chicken legs by vacuum‐tumbling in lactic acid solution
Authors: Deumier François 
Published: November 2005

SummaryVacuum tumbling in a 1–5% lactic acid solution for a short time (1–10 min) improves the microbiological quality of deboned chicken legs, while inducing a light acidification and water absorption. The most significant variable of the process is the tumbling speed. High tumbling speeds lead to a high decontamination level of the chicken legs with regard to total viable counts and Enterobacteriaceae. Sodium lactate alone is unable to induce any decontamination at the same concentrations. Decontamination is probably more linked to acidification than to lactate ions. The use of vacuum tumbled (1 min in a 1% lactic acid solution) deboned chicken legs in the industrial manufacture of fresh chicken sausages led to a clear decrease in the number of Salmonella‐positive batches. The incidence of positive batches was reduced threefold and the acid decontamination process did not adversely affect the sensory quality of the sausages.
The mathematical modelling of the osmotic dehydration of shark fillets at different brine temperatures
Authors: Mujaffar Saheeda , Sankat Clement K. 
Published: November 2005

SummaryThe effect of brine temperature (20, 30, 40 and 50 °C) on the osmotic drying behaviour of shark slabs (10 × 5 × 1 cm) in saturated (100°) brine was investigated. The parameters investigated were weight reduction, water loss, salt gain and water activity. Salt uptake and moisture data were analysed using various mathematical solutions based on Fick's Law of Diffusion and the effective diffusion coefficients were predicted after considering the process variables. The expressions presented by Azuara et al. (1992), based on the model presented by Crank (1975), were successfully used to predict the equilibrium point and to calculate diffusion coefficients at not only the initial stages of dehydration, but also at different times during the osmotic process.
Invasion impacts diversity through altered community dynamics
Authors: YURKONIS KATHRYN A. , MEINERS SCOTT J. , WACHHOLDER BRENT E. 
Published: November 2005

Summary

Invading plant species often alter community structure, composition and, in some instances, reduce local diversity. However, the community dynamics underlying these impacts are relatively unknown.
Declines in species richness with invasion may occur via displacement of resident species and/or reduction of seedling establishment by the invader. These two mechanisms differ in the demographic stage of the interaction.
We document turnover dynamics using long‐term permanent plot data to assess the mechanism(s) of invasion impacts of four exotic species on a mixed community of native and exotic species. These mechanisms were evaluated at both the neighbourhood (1‐m2 plot) and population (individual species) scales.
During invasion, species richness declined with increasing invader cover for three of the four invaders. All invaders reduced colonization rates, but had no effect on extinction rates at the neighbourhood scale. Populations differed in their susceptibility to invasion impacts, with significant reductions in colonization for 10 of 25 (40%) species and increases in extinction for only 4 of 29 (14%) species.
At neighbourhood and population scales, influences of invasion on community dynamics were essentially the same for all invaders regardless of life‐form. While individual resident species had some increase in extinction probability, community richness impacts were largely driven by colonization limitation.
The consistency of invasion impacts across life‐forms suggests establishment limitation as a general mechanism of invasion impact. This common causal mechanism should be explored in other systems to determine the extent of its generality.
Plant traits and local extinctions in natural grasslands along an urban–rural gradient
Authors: WILLIAMS NICHOLAS S. G. , MORGAN JOHN W. , MCDONNELL MARK J. , MCCARTHY MICHAEL A. 
Published: November 2005

Summary

The effect that the surrounding landscape matrix has on the loss of species from fragmented patches remains largely unknown. To determine whether there were differences in the persistence of plants inhabiting remnant patches in contrasting landscape types we examined the local extinction of grassland plants along an urban–rural gradient in western Victoria, Australia.
Thirty small grassland remnants that had been comprehensively surveyed between 1979 and 1990 were intensively re‐surveyed. A total of 289 (26%) of the 1104 plant populations present in the 1980s were not relocated and were presumed to be locally extinct. The proportion of populations lost differed along the gradient, with higher local extinction rates at patches in urban (37%) and peri‐urban landscapes (27%) than those in the rural landscape (20%).
We calculated the probability of local extinction of species in urban, peri‐urban and rural landscapes using Bayesian logistic regression models. Across all plant functional traits examined, species had a consistently higher probability of local extinction in the urban landscape.
Species that were geophytes or hemicryptophytes with a flat rosette and species with seeds dispersed by wind or ants had substantially increased risks of extinction in the urban landscape. Low seed mass, the lack of vegetative reproduction and the presence of a soil‐stored seed bank increased the probability of local extinction in all landscapes. Regionally rare species had a higher probability of local extinction in rural and peri‐urban landscapes but rarity had little influence on extinction risk in urban landscapes.
Urbanization has a strong influence on the species composition of urban grasslands and substantially increases the probability of local extinction of plants with particular combinations of functional traits.