bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of dietary docosahexaenoic acid on brain composition and neural function in term infants
Authors: Gibson Robert A. , Neumann Mark A. , Makrides Maria 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThere is a need to determine whether there is a dietary requirement for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3) by term infants to achieve their full developmental potential. Studies of brain fatty acid composition demonstrated that infants who were breast fed had greater levels of cerebral cortex DHA than did infants who were formula fed, suggesting that DHA in the cerebrum is dependent on a supply in the diet. Some physiological studies reported that electrophysiological and behavioral assessments of visual function were improved in breast‐fed infants relative to those fed formula and that this was related to the length of breast feeding. While some randomized studies of DHA supplementation of infant formula to term infants demonstrated that the visual function of formula‐fed infants could be improved to breast‐fed levels by adding DHA to formula, others failed to demonstrate an effect. Variations in dietary treatments and methods of assessment make comparison of the studies difficult. Further work is necessary to rigorously establish if there are long‐term benefits of dietary DHA to the term infant.
Impact of fat substitutes on fat intake
Authors: Miller Gregory D. , Groziak Susan M. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractDietary fat is the number one nutrition concern of Americans. In response to rising consumer demand for reduced‐fat foods, the food industry has developed a multitude of nonfat, lowfat, and reduced‐fat versions of regular food products. To generate reduced‐fat or fat‐free products that have the same organoleptic characteristics of the regular fat version, food manufactures frequently employ fat substitutes in the formulation of these foods. Fat substitutes are made from either carbohydrate, protein, or fat, or a combination of these components. Researchers have questioned the impact of fat substitutes on both fat and caloric intake. The majority of research studies in which fat substitutes were either covertly or overtly substituted for dietary fat indicate that in short‐term, carefully‐controlled conditions, fat substitutes can decrease both dietary fat intake and percentage of calorie intake from fat. However, individuals compensate for the caloric deficit created by the fat substitutes by increasing their consumption of other macronutrients, primarily carbohydrate. The long‐term effect of fat substitutes on the fat intake of free‐living individuals and weight control are unknown. People tend to eat more of a food when they know that food is reduced in fat. Fat substitutes should not be considered a substitute for sound nutrition education and a healthy lifestyle which includes regular exercise.
Esterification and transesterification of 9(10)‐carboxystearic acid and its methyl esters. Kinetic studies
Authors: Dufek E. J. , Butterfield R. O. , Frankel E. N. 
Published: May 2007

Abstract9(10)‐Carboxystearic acid and its mono‐ and dimethyl esters were esterified and transesterified with 1‐butanol, 2‐methoxyethanol, 2‐chloroethanol, 2,2‐dimethylpentanol, 2‐ethylhexanol and 1‐octanol. Rate studies for the sulfuric acid‐catalyzed esterification of 9(10)‐carboxystearic acid to alkyl 9(10)‐carboxystearate and alkyl 9(10)‐carboalkoxystearate indicate than on an average the terminal carboxyl is approximately 26–27 times more reactive than the branched carboxyl group. Esterification is highly dependent on catalyst concentration. Steric hindrance in 2,2‐dimethylpentanol and the electrophilic character of 2‐methoxyethanol and 2‐chloroethanol markedly retard the rate. In addition to the expected diesters, 2‐chloroethanol yields esters containing extra‐O‐CH2CH2‐ groups. The rate of transesterification of the terminal ester group of mono‐ and dimethyl esters of 9(10)‐carboxystearic acid is about two times faster than the rate of esterification of the branched carboxyl group. Transesterification of the branched 9(10)‐ester group is extremely slow.
Putting the system back into systems change: a framework for understanding and changing organizational and community systems
Authors: Foster-Fishman Pennie G. , Nowell Branda , Yang Huilan 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSystems change has emerged as a dominant frame through which local, state, and national funders and practitioners across a wide array of fields approach their work. In most of these efforts, change agents and scholars strive to shift human services and community systems to create better and more just outcomes and improve the status quo. Despite this, there is a dearth of frameworks that scholars, practitioners, and funders can draw upon to aid them in understanding, designing, and assessing this process from a systemic perspective. This paper provides one framework—grounded in systems thinking and change literatures—for understanding and identifying the fundamental system parts and interdependencies that can help to explain system functioning and leverage systems change. The proposed framework highlights the importance of attending to both the deep and apparent structures within a system as well as the interactions and interdependencies among these system parts. This includes attending to the dominant normative, resource, regulative, and operational characteristics that dictate the behavior and lived experiences of system members. The value of engaging critical stakeholders in problem definition, boundary construction, and systems analysis are also discussed. The implications of this framework for systems change researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Implementation of extended neonatal screening and a metabolic unit in the State of Qatar: Developing and optimizing strategies in cooperation with the Neonatal Screening Center in Heidelberg
Authors: Lindner M. , Abdoh G. , Fang‐Hoffmann J. , Shabeck N. , Al Sayrafi M. , Al Janahi M. , Ho S. , Abdelrahman M. O. , Ben‐Omran T. , Bener A. , Schulze A. , Al Rifai H. , Al Thani G. , Hoffmann G. F. 
Published: May 2007

SummaryQatar is a country in the Gulf area and member of the Gulf Cooperation Council states. The country is populated by original Qatari tribes that amount to about 200 000 people and about 600 000 expatriates mainly from Arabic and Asian countries. Inbreeding over centuries and high rates of consanguinity in the Qatari population and in some groups of expatriates, in addition to large family sizes and rapid population growth, have contributed to a high frequency of autosomal recessive disorders. In December 2003 Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha and the University Children's Hospital of Heidelberg, Germany, started an extended state‐wide neonatal screening programme for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with the laboratory situated in Heidelberg, Germany. All aspects of the screening process had to be adapted to the unique situation of the laboratory being 6000 km from the birthplace of the neonates. Within 32 months, samples of 25 214 neonates were screened. In 28 cases an endocrine or metabolic diagnosis was identified (incidence 1:901, in Germany 1:1728). In particular, a variety of monogenic metabolic diseases were prevalent, with 19 patients detected giving an incidence of metabolic diseases of 1:1327 (Germany 1:2517). Each euro spent on the screening programme saved more than 25 euros in health and social costs. The programme revealed a high incidence of treatable inborn metabolic diseases in the population of Qatar. A reliable screening for classical homocystinuria showing a unique incidence of >1:3000 and for sickle cell disease has now been added.
Hsp56 mRNA in Paracentrotus lividus embryos binds to a mitochondrial protein
Authors: Di Liegro Carlo Maria , Rinaldi Anna Maria 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe previously demonstrated that Paracentrotus lividus Hsp56 mitochondrial chaperonin is constitutively expressed during development, that it has a specific territorial distribution, both in normal and heat‐shocked embryos, and that its amount increases after heat shock [Roccheri MC, Patti M, Agnello M, Gianguzza F, Carra E, Rinaldi AM. Localization of mitochondrial Hsp56 chaperonin during sea urchin development. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2001;287:1093–98] and cadmium treatment [Roccheri MC, Agnello M, Boneventura R, Matranga V. Cadmium induces the expression of specific stress proteins in sea urchin embryos. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2004;321:80–7]. In this study, we looked at Hsp56 mRNA during normal development and under stress conditions. The messenger is almost constantly expressed at all stages of development and its amount is steadily increased in stressed embryos. Moreover, we found, using T1 RNase protection assay, that the most proximal region of the 3′‐UTR of the Hsp56 mRNA binds a 40 kDa protein: this factor is more abundant in the mitochondrial extract and, more specifically, in the outer membrane of the organelle.
Effect of the phytoestrogen, genistein‐8‐C‐glucoside, on Chinese hamster ovary cells in vitro
Authors: Rucinska Agata , Kirko Sergej , Gabryelak Teresa 
Published: May 2007

AbstractGenistein‐8‐C‐glucoside (G8CG) belongs to isoflavones, which are a subclass of flavonoids, a large group of polyphenolic compounds widely distributed in plants. A number of studies on flavonoids show their cardioprotective and antiosteoporosis properties in in vitro and in vivo models. As a phytoestrogen, genistein has recently generated interest as a potential anticancer and antiatherogenic agent. Several flavonoids are known as antioxidants and scavengers of free oxygen radicals. In the current investigation we used glycosylated genistein (genistein‐8‐C‐glucoside) from flowers of lupine (Lupinus luteus L.). Many authors have found that the action of genistein is not so simple, although many reports conducted in vitro have demonstrated that it is cytotoxic and genotoxic. Therefore, the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of this compound in Chinese hamster ovary cells (line CHO) were studied. A colorimetric MTT assay to assess cytotoxicity and a Comet assay for the detection of DNA damage were used. Apoptosis was determined by the Hoechst 33258/propidium iodide staining technique. We have also demonstrated antioxidant properties of G8CG. The level of reactive oxygen species generated by G8CG alone and/or H2O2 was evaluated with fluorescence probes: dichlorofluorescein‐diacetate (DCFDA) by flow cytometry. The cells were exposed to various concentrations of genistein‐8‐C‐glucoside (1–290 μM) and hydrogen peroxide (10–130 μM) and the effect of G8CG alone or in combination with H2O2 was determined. The results reveal that G8CG at concentrations higher than 10 μM significantly reduced cell viability, induced apoptosis and DNA damage. However at lower concentrations (5 and 7.5 μM), G8CG showed antioxidant properties, but had no cytotoxic or genotoxic activity.
Somatic focus/awareness: Relationship to negative affect and pain in chronic pain patients
Authors: O'Brien Erin M. , Atchison James W. , Gremillion Henry A. , Waxenberg Lori B. , Robinson Michael E. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSomatic focus refers to the tendency to notice and report physical symptoms, and has been investigated in relation to chronically painful conditions. This study investigated the relationship between somatic focus, as measured by the Pennebaker Inventory of Limbic Languidness (PILL), negative affect and pain. A secondary purpose of the present study was to examine sex differences in these relationships. Participants included 280 chronic pain patients (69.6% females, 88.9% Caucasian), who completed a battery of self‐report measures on somatic focus, pain, negative affect, coping, and dysfunction. Results for the overall sample revealed that the PILL shares considerable variance with measures of negative affect, particularly with the physiological components of anxiety and depression. When the results were analyzed separately for male and female patients, it was found that several components of negative affect and cognitive factors play a stronger role in predicting somatic focus among men compared to women. Additional analyses then examined whether somatic focus was predictive of male and female patients’ pain reports. Results indicated that somatic focus explained a small, but unique amount of variance in female patients’ pain reports, which differed from the relationship observed among male patients.
Identification of alternatively spliced TIMP‐1 mRNA in cancer cell lines and colon cancer tissue
Authors: Usher P.A. , Sieuwerts A.M. , Bartels A. , Lademann U. , Nielsen H.J. , Holten-Andersen L. , Foekens J.A. , Brünner N. , Offenberg H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTIMP‐1 is a promising new candidate as a prognostic marker in colorectal and breast cancer. We now describe the discovery of two alternatively spliced variants of TIMP‐1 mRNA. The two variants lacking exon 2 (del‐2) and 5 (del‐5), respectively, were identified in human cancer cell lines by RT‐PCR. The del‐2 variant was, furthermore, detected in extracts from 12 colorectal cancer tissue samples. By western blotting additional bands of lower molecular mass than full‐length TIMP‐1 were identified in tumor tissue, but not in plasma samples obtained from cancer patients.The two splice variants of TIMP‐1 may hold important clinical information, and either alone or in combination with measurement of full‐length TIMP‐1 they may improve the prognostic and/or predictive value of TIMP‐1 analyses.
Dietary oxidised fat up regulates the expression of organic cation transporters in liver and small intestine and alters carnitine concentrations in liver, muscle and plasma of rats
Authors: Koch Alexander , König Bettina , Luci Sebastian , Stangl Gabriele I. , Eder Klaus 
Published: May 2007

It has been shown that treatment of rats with clofibrate, a synthetic agonist of PPARα, increases mRNA concentration of organic cation transporters (OCTN)-1 and -2 and concentration of carnitine in the liver. Since oxidised fats have been demonstrated in rats to activate hepatic PPARα, we tested the hypothesis that they also up regulate OCTN. Eighteen rats were orally administered either sunflower-seed oil (control group) or an oxidised fat prepared by heating sunflower-seed oil, for 6 d. Rats administered the oxidised fat had higher mRNA concentrations of typical PPARα target genes such as acyl-CoA oxidase, cytochrome P450 4A1 and carnitine palmitoyltransferases-1A and -2 in liver and small intestine than control rats (P < 0·05). Furthermore, rats treated with oxidised fat had higher hepatic mRNA concentrations of OCTN1 (1·5-fold) and OCTN2 (3·1-fold), a higher carnitine concentration in the liver and lower carnitine concentrations in plasma, gastrocnemius and heart muscle than control rats (P < 0·05). Moreover, rats administered oxidised fat had a higher mRNA concentration of OCTN2 in small intestine (2·4-fold;P < 0·05) than control rats. In conclusion, the present study shows that an oxidised fat causes an up regulation of OCTN in the liver and small intestine. An increased hepatic carnitine concentration in rats treated with the oxidised fat is probably at least in part due to an increased uptake of carnitine into the liver which in turn leads to reduced plasma and muscle carnitine concentrations. The present study supports the hypothesis that nutrients acting as PPARα agonists influence whole-body carnitine homeostasis.
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: Safeguarding the Interests of African States
Authors: Bekker Gina 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis article examines the extent to which the decision to establish the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was motivated by the desire of African states to safeguard their own interests at the expense of effectively protecting human rights in Africa. Using an examination of the drafting history of the Banjul Charter and the establishment of the African Commission as a background, this article explores the potential implications for the future of human rights protection on the continent as a result of the creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and its proposed merger with the African Court of Justice.
The Harmonization of Business Law in Africa: Is Article 42 of the OHADA Treaty a Problem?
Authors: Enonchong Nelson 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe primary function of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) is to modernize and harmonize the business laws of member states. The wider objective of OHADA is to attract foreign investment into the OHADA zone and to achieve economic integration in Africa as whole, as other African countries join OHADA. However, article 42 of the treaty establishing OHADA stipulates that French is the working language of the organization. This paper argues that this provision does not facilitate the goal of economic integration in Africa and that in one member state, Cameroon, article 42 presents serious constitutional and human rights difficulties. The paper suggests that article 42 should be amended in order to make it easier for key OHADA objectives to be attained and in order to remove the serious problems created in Cameroon.
Influence of an upper-hybrid pump on temperature relaxation processes in a magnetized plasma
Authors: PAVLENKO V. N. , PANCHENKO V. G. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractBy means of kinetic fluctuation theory, the relaxation process between the electron and ion temperatures in a magnetized homogeneous plasma is considered. The cases when the external upper-hybrid pump wave excites modified convective cells and ion-acoustic waves are analysed. The inverse relaxation time in the regime where the turbulent fluctuations are developed is calculated for these cases and its dependence on the pump wave and plasma parameters is deduced.
Hyperaccretion
Authors: King Andrew R. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAccretion at rates exceeding the Eddington limit is common in close binaries. I summarize the arguments leading to the conclusion that such stellar–mass systems appear as ultraluminous X-ray sources when viewed close the the inner accretion disc axis, and like SS433 when viewed from other angles.I show that AGN are unlikely to achieve electron–scattering Eddington ratios as high as ULXs, so there are few ULX analogues among quasars. However hyperaccretion of dusty matter is common among AGN. The resulting outflow naturally has a toroidal geometry, and may well be the origin of the dusty torus invoked in unified AGN schemes.
X-ray emission properties of BLAGN in the XMM-2dF Wide Angle Survey
Authors: Mateos S. , Watson M. G. , Tedds J. A. , Carrera F. J. , Page M. , Corral A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe present the preliminary results of the X-ray spectral analysis of one of the largest samples of X-ray selected BLAGN assembled so far from the XMM-2dF Wide Angle Survey. The sample, with 641 spectroscopically identified BLAGN, provides a unique resource to carry out a statistical analysis of the emission properties of these objects over a broad range of X-ray luminosities and redshifts. The X-ray spectra of the majority of the objects were best fitted with a power law with a near constant mean spectral photon index. No obvious trend of this spectral parameter with X-ray luminosity or redshift was found.We measured the mean photon index of our objects to be ∼1.96 ± 0.05 with an intrinsic dispersion σ=0.22±0.03. X-ray absorption was detected in ∼8% of the sources, with no preferred luminosity or redshift and having typical values of the absorbing column density ≤1022cm−2.
Cosmological evolution of the AGN kinetic luminosity function
Authors: Merloni Andrea , Heinz Sebastian 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe present a first attempt to derive the cosmological evolution of the kinetic luminosity function of AGN based on the joint evolution of the flat spectrum radio and hard X-ray selected AGN luminosity functions. An empirical correlation between jet power and radio core luminosity is found, which is consistent with the theoretical assumption that, below a certain Eddington ratio, SMBH accrete in a radiatively inefficient way, while most of the energy output is in the form of kinetic energy.We show how the redshift evolution of the kinetic power density from such a low-ṁ mode of accretion makes it a good candidate to explain the so-called “radio mode” of AGN feedback as outlined in many galaxy formation schemes.
Formation and early evolution of massive black holes
Authors: Madau Piero 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe astrophysical processes that led to the formation of the first seed black holes and to their growth into the supermassive variety that powers bright quasars at z ∼ 6 are poorly understood. In standard ΛCDM hierarchical cosmologies, the earliest massive holes (MBHs) likely formed at redshift z ≳ 15 at the centers of low-mass (M ≳ 5 × 105 M⊙) dark matter “minihalos”, and produced hard radiation by accretion. FUV/X-ray photons from such “miniquasars” may have permeated the universe more uniformly than EUV radiation, reduced gas clumping, and changed the chemistry of primordial gas. The role of accreting seed black holes in determining the thermal and ionization state of the intergalactic medium depends on the amount of cold and dense gas that forms and gets retained in protogalaxies after the formation of the first stars. The highest resolution N-body simulation to date of Galactic substructure shows that subhalos below the atomic cooling mass were very inefficient at forming stars.
An accretion disk laboratory in the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy NGC 2992
Authors: Yaqoob Tahir , Murphy Kendrah D. , Terashima Yuichi 
Published: May 2007

AbstractOver twenty five years of X-ray observations of the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy NGC 2992 show that it is a promising test-bed for severely constraining accretion disk models. The previous interpretation of the historical activity of NGC 2992 in terms of the accretion disk slowly becoming dormant over many years and then ‘re-building’ itself is not supported by new data. A recent year-long monitoring campaign with RXTE showed that the X-ray continuum varied by more than an order of magnitude on a timescale of weeks. During the large-amplitude flares the centroid energy of the Fe K emission-line complex became significantly redshifted, indicating that the violent activity was occurring close to the putative central black hole where gravitational energy shifts can be sufficiently large. For the continuum, the Compton-y parameter remains roughly constant despite the large-amplitude luminosity variability, with (kT) τ ∼ 20–50.
Strong gravity effects: X-ray spectra, variability and polarimetry
Authors: Fabian Andrew C. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAccreting black holes often show iron line emission in their X-ray spectra. When this line emission is very broad or variable then it is likely to originate from close to the black hole. The theory and observations of such broad and variable iron lines are briefly reviewed here. In order for a clear broad line to be found, one or more of the following have to occur: high iron abundance, dense disk surface and minimal complex absorption.Several excellent examples are found from observations of Seyfert galaxies and Galactic Black Holes. In some cases there is strong evidence that the black hole is rapidly spinning. Further examples are expected as more long observations are made with XMM-Newton, Chandra and Suzaku. The X-ray spectra show evidence for the strong gravitational redshifts and light bending expected around black holes.