bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characteristics and outcome amongst young adults suffering from out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest in whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation is attempted
Authors: HERLITZ J. , SVENSSON L. , SILFVERSTOLPE J. , ÄNGQUIST K.‐A. , WISTEN A. , ENGDAHL J. , HOLMBERG S. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract.Objectives.  Amongst patients suffering from out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest, young adults represent a minority. However, these victims suffer from the catastrophe when they are in a very active phase of life and have a long life expectancy. This survey aims to describe young adults in Sweden who suffer from out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest and in whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is attempted in terms of characteristics and outcome.Design.  Prospective and descriptive design.Subjects and methods.  Young adults (18–35 years) who suffered from out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest in whom CPR was attempted and who were included in the Swedish Cardiac Arrest Registry between 1990 and 2004.Main outcome measures.  Survival to 1 month.Results.  In all, 1105 young adults (3.1% of all the patients in the registry) were included, of which 29% were females, 51% were nonwitnessed and 15% had a cardiac aetiology. Only 17% were found in ventricular fibrillation, 53% received bystander CPR. The overall survival to 1 month was 6.3%. High survival was found amongst patients found in ventricular fibrillation (20.8%) and those with a cardiac aetiology (14.8%). Ventricular fibrillation at the arrival of the rescue team remained an independent predictor of an increased chance of survival (odds ratio: 7.43; 95% confidence interval: 3.44–16.65).Conclusion.  Amongst young adults suffering from out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest and in whom CPR was attempted, a minority survived to 1 month. Subgroups with a higher survival could be defined (patients found in ventricular fibrillation and patients in whom there was a cardiac aetiology). However, only one independent predictor of an increased chance of survival could be demonstrated, i.e. ventricular fibrillation at the arrival of the rescue team.
Loss of Hfq activates the σE‐dependent envelope stress response in Salmonella enterica
Authors: Figueroa‐Bossi Nara , Lemire Sébastien , Maloriol Danièla , Balbontín Roberto , Casadesús Josep , Bossi Lionello 
Published: September 2006

SummaryUbiquitous RNA‐binding protein Hfq mediates the regulatory activity of many small RNAs (sRNAs) in bacteria. To identify potential targets for Hfq‐mediated regulation in Salmonella, we searched for lacZ translational fusions whose activity varied in the presence or absence of Hfq. Fusions downregulated by Hfq were more common than fusions showing the opposite response. Surprisingly, in a subset of isolates from the major class, the higher activity in the absence of Hfq was due to transcriptional activation by the alternative sigma factor RpoE (σE). Activation of the σE regulon normally results from envelope stress conditions that elicit proteolytic cleavage of the anti‐σE factor RseA. Using an epitope tagged variant of RseA, we found that RseA is cleaved at an increased rate in a strain lacking Hfq. This cleavage was dependent on the DegS protease and could be completely prevented upon expressing the hfq gene from an inducible promoter. Thus, loss of Hfq function appears to affect envelope biogenesis in a way that mimics a stress condition and thereby induces the σE response constitutively. In a RseA mutant, activation of the σE response causes Hfq‐dependent downregulation of outer membrane protein (OMP) genes including lamB, ompA, ompC and ompF. For ompA, downregulation results in part from σE‐dependent accumulation of MicA (SraD), a small RNA recently shown to downregulate ompA transcript levels in stationary phase. We show that the micA gene is under σE control, and that DegS‐mediated σE release is required for the accumulation of MicA RNA upon entry into stationary phase. A similar mechanism involving additional, still unidentified, sRNAs, might underlie the growth phase‐dependent regulation of other OMP mRNAs.
A STE12 homologue of the homothallic ascomycete Sordaria macrospora interacts with the MADS box protein MCM1 and is required for ascosporogenesis
Authors: Nolting Nicole , Pöggeler Stefanie 
Published: September 2006

SummaryThe MADS box protein MCM1 controls diverse developmental processes and is essential for fruiting body formation in the homothallic ascomycete Sordaria macrospora. MADS box proteins derive their regulatory specificity from a wide range of different protein interactions. We have recently shown that the S. macrospora MCM1 is able to interact with the alpha‐domain mating‐type protein SMTA‐1. To further evaluate the functional roles of MCM1, we used the yeast two‐hybrid approach to identify MCM1‐interacting proteins. From this screen, we isolated a protein with a putative N‐terminal homeodomain and C‐terminal C2/H2‐Zn2+ finger domains. The protein is a member of the highly conserved fungal STE12 transcription factor family of proteins and was therefore termed STE12. Furthermore, we demonstrate by means of two‐hybrid and far western analysis that in addition to MCM1, the S. macrospora STE12 protein is able to interact with the mating‐type protein SMTA‐1. Unlike the situation in the closely related heterothallic ascomycete Neurospora crassa, deletion (Δ) of the ste12 gene in S. macrospora neither affects vegetative growth nor fruiting body formation. However, ascus and ascospore development are highly impaired by the Δste12 mutation. Our data provide another example of the functional divergence within the fungal STE12 transcription factor family.
Hemiclonal reproduction slows down the speed of Muller's ratchet in the hybridogenetic frog Rana esculenta
Authors: SOM C. , REYER H.‐U. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractRare recombination in otherwise asexually reproducing organisms is known to beneficially influence the fitness in small populations. In most of the investigated organisms, asexual and rare sexual generations with recombination follow each other sequentially. Here we present a case where clonal reproduction and rare recombination occur simultaneously in the same population. The hybridogenetic water frog Rana esculenta (E), a hybrid between R. lessonae (L) and R. ridibunda (R) produces gametes that only contain the unaltered maternal R part of their genome. New generations of R. esculenta usually arise from E × L matings. Intraspecific E × E matings produce mostly inviable offspring, but in rare cases, female R. ridibunda arise from such matings which are capable of recombination. In the absence of conspecific males, these R females have to mate with E males, which results in further R females, or with L males, which produces new E lineages. This indirect mechanism reintroduces recombination into the otherwise clonally transmitted R genomes in R. esculenta populations. In this study, we show through Monte Carlo simulations that, in most cases, it is sufficient that only between 1 % and 10 % of mixed water frog populations consist of R females to prevent or significantly reduce the fixation and accumulation of deleterious mutations.
Mast Cells in the Salivary Glands and Tongue of the Ferret: Demonstration and Some Histochemical Observations
Authors: Fletcher D. , Triantafyllou A. 
Published: September 2006

SummaryPrevious investigations failed to demonstrate mast cells in the alimentary tract and extraparietal glands of the ferret. It was decided therefore to test this and assess factors that may be of influence. Major salivary glands and tongues of mature ferrets, which had been fixed in formalin‐calcium, were examined by means of light microscopical histochemistry. Staining of paraffin sections with techniques depending on basic dyes or esterolytic activity was carried out for conventional times with and without previous oxidation, hot acid hydrolysis, and trypsin and β‐glucuronidase digestion. Aldehyde fuchsin and high iron diamine consistently revealed the presence of few mast cells in interstitial stroma of salivary glands and lingual musculature, and in the lamina propria of lingual mucosa. Alcian blue at 0.5 m MgCl2 and safranin produced less consistent results, and even fewer metachromatic mast cells were detected. No staining of mast cells was obtained with the technique for napthol AS‐D chloroacetate esterase. Pretreatment did not increase the numbers and/or staining reactions of mast cells. The results refute the previous misconception and suggest that ferret is a species with a low incidence of mast cells largely expressing a connective‐tissue phenotype.
Teratogenic Effects of the Interaction Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA) and Ethanol: Morphologic and Morphometric Evaluation of the Lingual Epithelium in Rat Fetuses
Authors: Marinho S. A. , Sala M. A. , Lopes R. A. , De Moraes Grisi M. F. , Novaes A. B. , De Souza S. L. S. , Taba M. 
Published: September 2006

SummaryThe objective of the present work was to evaluate the teratogenic effects of the interaction between acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and ethanol on the epithelium of the lingual mucosa in rat fetuses. On the 10th pregnancy day, a single intraperitoneal ethanol dose (2.96 g/kg body weight) (Group I), ASA (200 mg/kg body weight) (Group II) and ASA plus ethanol, in the same doses (Group III), or saline (Group IV – control), were administrated. The epithelial alterations were assessed by means of histological and morphometric methods, on posterior dorsal, anterior dorsal and ventral regions of the tongue. ASA reduced, in rat fetuses, the ethanol deleterious effects on nuclear size in the epithelial prickle cell of the lingual mucosa. On the other hand, ASA did not influence the effects of ethanol in both epithelial layers of the lingual mucosa, when the nuclear shape, cell volume or epithelial layers thickness were evaluated.
Nerve Fibre Tracing of Branches to the Coracobrachialis Muscle in a Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus)
Authors: Kawashima T. , Yoshitomi S. , Sasaki H. 
Published: September 2006

SummaryA detailed anatomical analysis of the left brachial plexus, composed of the fourth cervical to first thoracic spinal nerve roots, was performed in an adult male orangutan obtained from the Osaka Museum of Natural History. Although the medial and posterior cords fused into a common trunk, a nerve fibre analysis revealed that the cords were not actually connected. A superficial branch (Rs) running ventral to the musculocutaneous nerve (MC) and a deep branch (Rp) running dorsal to the MC innervated the coracobrachialis muscle, which was also innervated by coracobrachialis branches (Rmc) from the MC. Koizumi (1989: Acta Anat. Nippon, 64, 18) reported that the Rmc and Rs innervated the superficial region of the coracobrachialis muscle corresponding to superficial coracobrachialis muscle in prosimians, whereas the Rp innervated the deep region. However, the detailed innervation of the coracobrachialis muscle in orangutans was not included in Koizumi and Sakai's (1995: J. Anat. 186, 395) report. Our observations in an orangutan did not seem to support generalisation, because the common trunk of the Rp and Rmc appeared to innervate both the superficial and deep regions of the coracobrachialis muscle. Therefore, a nerve fibre analysis of the common trunk was performed as a detailed examination. The analysis confirmed that the Rp in the orangutan only innervated the deep region of the coracobrachialis muscle, similar to the innervation pattern seen in other apes and humans.
Efficacy of antiviral therapy with lamivudine after initial treatment for hepatitis B virus‐related hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Kuzuya Teiji , Katano Yoshiaki , Kumada Takashi , Toyoda Hidenori , Nakano Isao , Hirooka Yoshiki , Itoh Akihiro , Ishigami Masatoshi , Hayashi Kazuhiko , Honda Takashi , Goto Hidemi 
Published: September 2006

AbstractAim:  The aim of this study was to determine whether antiviral therapy with lamivudine is beneficial in patients after initial treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:  Forty‐nine consecutive patients with HBV‐related HCC completely treated by hepatic resection or radiofrequency ablation were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Comparison was made between 16 patients who received lamivudine therapy at a dose of 100 mg/day after treatment for HCC (lamivudine group) and 33 patients who did not (control group) in terms of changes in remnant liver function, HCC recurrence and survival.Results:  Cumulative recurrence rates of HCC did not significantly differ between the two groups (P = 0.622). However, median Child–Pugh score at the time of HCC recurrence was significantly different; 5 (range 5–6) in the lamivudine group versus 7 (range 5–12) in the control group (P = 0.005). All patients in the lamivudine group were able to receive curative treatment for recurrent HCC. In contrast, 10 of 15 patients in the control group were unable to receive curative optimal therapy for recurrent HCC due to deterioration of remnant liver function. The cumulative survival rates of patients in the lamivudine group tended to be higher than those of patients in the control group (P = 0.063).Conclusion:  It is suggested that lamivudine therapy is beneficial for patients after initial treatment for HBV‐related HCC because it contributes to improving remnant liver function, thus decreasing the risk of liver failure and increasing the chances of receiving available treatment modalities for recurrent HCC.
Differentiation of gastric surface mucous cells (GSM06) induced by air–liquid interface is regulated partly through mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway
Authors: Yokoyama Fumie , Sakata Yasuhisa , Ootani Akifumi , Fujise Takahiro , Kakimoto Takashi , Amemori Sadahiro , Shiraishi Ryosuke , Kuroki Tsukasa , Tsunada Seiji , Iwakiri Ryuichi , Fujimoto Kazuma 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackground and Aim:  The aim of the present study was to examine the role of mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway on gastric surface epithelium using an established cell culture model in which differentiation is promoted in GSM06 cells by air–liquid interface.Methods:  A double‐dish culture system of mouse gastric surface mucous cell line GSM06 in Ham's F12 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and 50 μg/mL gentamicin at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air was used for an air–liquid interface. Culture cells were examined on histology, cell proliferation was evaluated by bromodeoxy‐uridine (BrdU) uptake, and western blot analysis of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and phosphate ERK1/2. On day 3, U0126, an inhibitor of MAP kinase kinase (MEK), was added to medium of incubated cells.Results:  GSM06 cells were differentiated with an air–liquid interface for 3 weeks. Compared to immersion control culture, phosphorylated ERK 1/2 expression increased significantly. This increase was completely suppressed with U0126, and tall columnar cells developed by air–liquid interface in GSM06 were not observed in U0126‐treated cells. Increase in BrdU uptake with air–liquid interface was suppressed by U0126.Conclusion:  These results suggested that MAP kinase signaling, activated by air–liquid interface, was, at least in part, related to cell differentiation in GSM06 cells induced by air–liquid interface.
ACUTE SURGICAL ADMISSIONS FOR ABDOMINAL PAIN IN ADULTS IN KUMASI, GHANA
Authors: Ohene‐Yeboah Michael 
Published: September 2006

Background:  Abdominal pain of less than a weeks’ duration is the presenting complaint in one of every five patients admitted to the surgical Accidents and Emergency Ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. This study is a prospective one, to determine the cause of abdominal pain in a large number of patients.Methods:  A monthly audit of discharge summaries for all patients admitted with acute abdominal pain was prepared and transferred to a special study pro forma to provide data over the 84‐month period from January 1998 to December 2004.Results:  There were 3114 patients, 2070 men and 1044 women. The ages ranged from 15 to 95 years. The seven most common causes of the admissions were acute appendicitis 698 (22.4%), typhoid ileal perforation (506) 16.2%, acute intestinal obstruction 391 (12.6%), gastroduodenal perforations 342 (11.0%), non‐specific abdominal pain 306 (9.8%), abdominal injures 260 (8.3%) and acute cholecystitis 102 (3.2%). There were 1976 (63.4%) emergency operations. Appendicectomy was a common operation that was carried out (638 cases or 32.3%). Two hundred and thirty patients (7.4%) died. Thirty‐five patients died before and 195 after operation. Of these 230 deaths, 110 (47.8%) reported to the hospital after three or more days of illness. Twenty‐six per cent and 23.7% of postoperative deaths occurred after emergency colonic resections and closure of gastroduodenal perforations, respectively.Conclusion:  Acute appendicitis, typhoid ileal perforation, acute intestinal obstruction and gastroduodenal perforations were the leading causes of acute admissions for abdominal pain to our hospital. Late presentation was associated with increased mortality.
Leaf flushing during the dry season: the paradox of Asian monsoon forests
Authors: Elliott Stephen , Baker Patrick J. , Borchert Rolf 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTAim  Most deciduous species of dry monsoon forests in Thailand and India form new leaves 1–2 months before the first monsoon rains, during the hottest and driest part of the year around the spring equinox. Here we identify the proximate causes of this characteristic and counterintuitive ‘spring‐flushing’ of monsoon forest trees.Location  Trees of 20 species were observed in semi‐deciduous dry monsoon forests of northern Thailand with a 5–6‐month‐long severe dry season and annual rainfall of 800–1500 mm. They were growing on dry ridges (dipterocarp–oak forest) or in moist gullies (mixed deciduous–evergreen forest) at 680–750 m altitude near Chiang Mai and in a dry lowland stand of Shorea siamensis in Uthai Thani province.Methods  Two novel methods were developed to analyse temporal and spatial variation in vegetative dry‐season phenology indicative of differences in root access to subsoil water reserves.Results  Evergreen and leaf exchanging species at cool, moist sites leafed soon after partial leaf shedding in January–February. Drought‐resistant dipterocarp species were evergreen at moist sites, deciduous at dry sites, and trees leafed soon after leaf shedding whenever subsoil water was available. Synchronous spring flushing of deciduous species around the spring equinox, as induced by increasing daylength, was common in Thailand's dipterocarp–oak forest and appears to be prevalent in Indian dry monsoon forests of the Deccan peninsula with its deep, water‐storing soils.Main conclusions  In all observed species leafing during the dry season relied on subsoil water reserves, which buffer trees against prolonged climatic drought. Implicitly, rainfall periodicity, i.e. climate, is not the principal determinant of vegetative tree phenology. The establishment of new foliage before the summer rains is likely to optimize photosynthetic gain in dry monsoon forests with a relatively short, wet growing season.
Energy availability, abundance, energy‐use and species richness in forest bird communities: a test of the species–energy theory
Authors: Mönkkönen Mikko , Forsman Jukka T. , Bokma Folmer 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTAim  To test the ‘more individuals hypothesis’ as a mechanism for the positive association between energy availability and species richness. This hypothesis predicts that total density and energy use in communities is linearly related to energy availability, and that species richness is a positive function of increased density. We also evaluate whether similar energy–density patterns apply to different migratory groups (residents, short‐distance migrants and tropical migrants) separately.Location  European and North American forest bird communities.Methods  We collected published breeding bird census data from Europe and North America (n = 187). From each census data we calculated bird density (pairs 10 ha−1), energy use by the community (the sum of metabolic needs of individuals, Watts 10 ha−1) and geographical location with an accuracy of 0.5°. For each bird census data coordinate we extracted the corresponding monthly values of actual evapotranspiration (AET). From these values we calculated corresponding AET values that we expected to explain the density energy use of forest birds: total annual, breeding season (June) and winter AET. We used general linear modelling to analyse these data controlling for the area of census plots, forest type and census method.Results  Total density and energy use in European and North American forest bird communities were linear functions of annual productivity, and increased density and energy use then translated into more species. Also resident bird density and energy consumption were positive functions of annual productivity, but the relationship between productivity and density as well as between productivity and energy use was weaker for migrants.Main conclusions  Our results are consistent with the more individuals hypothesis that density and energy use in breeding forest bird communities is coupled tightly with the productivity of the environment, and that increased density and energy consumption results in more species. However, not all community members (migratory groups) are limited by productivity on the breeding grounds.
Problems measuring the underground economy in transition1
Authors: Hanousek Jan , Palda Filip 
Published: September 2006

AbstractAn easy and popular method for measuring the size of the underground economy is to use macro data such as money demand or electricity demand to infer what the legitimate economy needs, and then to attribute the remaining consumption to the underground economy. Such inferences rely on the stability of parameters of the money demand and electricity demand equations, or at very least on knowledge of how these parameters are changing. We argue that the pace of change of these parameters is too variable in transition economies for the above methods of estimating the size of the underground economy to be applicable. We make our point by using Czech Republic and other transition country data from the financial and electricity sectors.
Market entry, privatization and bank performance in transition1
Authors: Fries Steven , Neven Damien , Seabright Paul , Taci Anita 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThis paper examines how market entry and privatization have affected the margins and marginal costs of banks in the post‐communist transition. We estimate bank revenue and cost functions, allowing the estimated parameters to change over time. In the first sub‐period (1995–98), we find that privatized banks earned higher margins than other banks, while foreign start‐ups had lower marginal costs. In the third sub‐period (2002–2004), foreign banks remained low marginal cost service providers, while privatized domestic banks had the widest margins. Subtracting marginal costs from margins to calculate mark‐ups, an indication of demand for services, shows that initially privatized banks had the largest mark‐ups. However, by the third sub‐period, differences among private banks diminished. In comparison to private banks, state banks persistently under‐performed in controlling costs and attracting demand. Our evidence therefore indicates that foreign bank entry promoted lower costs and that privatization and market entry encouraged more demand for services.