bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
1. TOWARD A HISTORY ON EQUAL TERMS: A DISCUSSION OF PROVINCIALIZING EUROPE
Authors: DIETZE CAROLA 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTThis essay is a critical discussion of Dipesh Chakrabarty's book Provincializing Europe as well as a first sketch of a History on Equal Terms. After giving a short summary of Provincializing Europe, I first argue, against chakrabarty, that there is no necessary connection between the discipline of history and the metanarratives of modernity. To the contrary: the founding idea of the discipline of history was a turn against such grand narratives. With his attempt to deconstruct the narratives of the European Enlightenment and of modernity, Chakrabarty therefore has to be regarded as a thinker of radical historicism rather than as a critic of the discipline of history. Second, I criticize the use of the term “modernity” in Provincializing Europe and the concept of modernity in general. Instead of a deconstruction of the discipline of history, I propose a deconstruction of the concept of modernity. This could open up the way for a History on Equal Terms situated within the discipline of history, that is, a historiography that would—just as Chakrabarty rightly demands—in principle pay the same attention to and expect relevant results from any region in the world, depending only on the focus of research.
Quality of life and acceptability of medical versus surgical management of early pregnancy failure*
Authors: Harwood B , Nansel T ,   for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Management of Early Pregnancy Failure Trial
Published: February 2008

Objective  This study compares quality of life (QOL) and acceptability of medical versus surgical treatment of early pregnancy failure (EPF).Design  A randomised clinical trial of treatment for EPF compared misoprostol vaginally versus vacuum aspiration (VA).Setting  A multisite trial at four US Urban University Hospitals.Population  A total of 652 women with an EPF were randomised to treatment.Methods  Participants completed a daily symptom diary and a questionnaire 2 weeks after treatment.Main outcome measures  The questionnaire assessment included subscales of the Short Form‐36 Health Survey Revised for QOL and measures of wellbeing, recovery difficulties, and treatment acceptability.Results  The two groups did not differ in mean scores for QOL except bodily pain; medical treatment was associated with higher levels of bodily pain than VA (P < 0.001). Success of treatment was not related to QOL, but acceptability of the procedure was decreased for medical therapy if unsuccessful (P = 0.003). Type of treatment was not associated with differences in recovery, and the two groups reported similar acceptability except for cramping (P = 0.02), bleeding (P < 0.001), and symptom duration (P = 0.03).Conclusions  Despite reporting greater pain and lower acceptability of treatment‐related symptoms, QOL and treatment acceptability were similar for medical and surgical treatment of EPF. Acceptability, but not QOL, was influenced by success or failure of medical management.
Acute Migraine Treatment With Oral Triptans and NSAIDs in a Managed Care Population
Authors: Ng‐Mak Daisy S. , Hu X. Henry , Chen Ya‐Ting , Ma Larry 
Published: February 2008

Objective.— To describe the use of oral triptans with or without nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for acute migraine treatment in a managed care population and its potential impact on functionality.Background.— Prescription or over‐the‐counter NSAIDs with or without oral triptans are commonly used for treatment of acute migraine pain. Little is known about patients’ treatment strategy when they have had experiences using NSAIDs and oral triptan cotherapy and the relationship between treatment strategy and migraine symptoms and functionality.Method.— Migraineurs identified from an administrative claims database were surveyed for their use of oral triptans and NSAIDs during their last attack in the screening phase and during the subsequent migraine attack in the follow‐up phase of the study. Treatment regimens were classified into 6 categories: simultaneous coadministration of triptans and NSAIDs (T&N); triptans first followed by NSAIDs (T_N); NSAIDs first followed by triptans (N_T); triptans only (TRP_only); NSAIDs only (NSAID_only); and others. Headache experience, reasons for treatment regimens, and treatment satisfaction were cross‐tabulated by treatment regimens. The log‐rank test was used for the analysis of time‐to‐event data.Results.— Among 8440 oral triptan users surveyed during the screening phase, 2307 (27%) reported using triptans and NSAIDs combination therapy during their last migraine attack. Of those, 1502 experienced a subsequent migraine attack and completed the follow‐up survey; 38% of these 1502 patients who used triptans and NSAIDs cotherapy during their last migraine attack continued to use combination therapy for their next attack. The most common treatment regimen, excluding “others” (n = 354, 24%), was TRP_only (n = 403, 27%), followed by N_T (n = 345, 23%), NSAID_only (n = 170, 11%), T&N (n = 152, 10%), and T_N (n = 75, 5.0%). More TRP_only patients became nausea‐free within 1 h after an initial dosing. TRP_only, T&N, and N_T had significantly shorter median hours of suffering from migraine and limited functioning, as compared with other treatment regimens. Substantially more patients taking TRP_only (34.7%) were very satisfied with their current treatment regimen than other regimens.Conclusions.— Migraine patients frequently change their treatment regimens in response to headache profiles. For patients with migraine associated nausea symptom, combination of therapy with triptan and NSAIDs appears to be less effective in relieving nausea than triptan monotherapy. Triptan montherapy remains a common and an effective migraine treatment strategy.
Mitochondrial respiratory chain defects: Underlying etiology in various epileptic conditions
Authors: Lee Young Mock , Kang Hoon Chul , Lee Joon Soo , Kim Se Hoon , Kim Eung Yeop , Lee Seung Koo , Slama Abdelhamid , Kim Heung Dong 
Published: February 2008

Summary
Purpose: To determine if defects in mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme complexes (MRCs) contribute to the etiology of childhood epilepsy.
Methods: We reviewed the clinical and laboratory features of 48 epileptic patients (23 male, 25 female) with MRC defects that were confirmed by biochemical assays using muscle biopsies.
Results: (1) Thirty‐five cases (72.9%) were MRC I deficient, one case (2.1%) was MRC II deficient, 11 cases (22.9%) were MRC IV deficient, and one case (2.1%) had combined MRC I and IV deficiencies. (2) In our clinical diagnosis, there were 10 cases (20.8%) with Leigh disease and one case each with myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, stroke‐like episodes (MELAS) or Alpers' disease (2.1%). Most of the remaining cases (75.0%) had uncategorized mitochondrial cytopathy with nonspecific encephalopathy. (3) For epileptic classification, there were two cases (4.2%) of Ohtahara syndrome, 10 cases (20.8%) of West syndrome, 12 cases (25.0%) of Lennox‐Gastaut syndrome, two cases (4.2%) of Landau‐Kleffner syndrome, 14 cases (29.2%) of generalized epilepsy, and eight cases (16.7%) of partial epilepsy. (4) The mean age of seizure onset was 2.68 ± 2.21 (range: 1 month – 5.5 years). (5) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed diffuse cortical atrophy in 34 cases (70.8%), basal ganglia signal changes in 18 cases (37.5%) and thalamus signal changes in 12 cases (25.0%). (6) A ketogenic diet produced clinical improvements, including seizure reduction and global functional improvement in 75% of 24 patients.
Conclusions: MRC defects are one of the important causes of probably symptomatic childhood epilepsy. A ketogenic diet should be carefully considered for treatment of intractable epilepsy related to MRC defects.
TWO TYPES OF AUXILIARY CELL AMPULLAE IN GRATELOUPIA (HALYMENIACEAE, RHODOPHYTA), INCLUDING G. TAIWANENSIS SP. NOV. AND G. ORIENTALIS SP. NOV. FROM TAIWAN BASED ON rbcL GENE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS AND CYSTOCARP DEVELOPMENT1
Authors: Lin Showe‐Mei , Liang Hong‐Yiang , Hommersand Max H. 
Published: February 2008

Few species in the genus Grateloupia have been investigated in detail with respect to the development of the auxiliary cell ampullae before or after diploidization. In this study, we document the vegetative and reproductive structures of two new species of Grateloupia, G. taiwanensis S.‐M. Lin et H.‐Y. Liang sp. nov. and G. orientalis S.‐M. Lin et H.‐Y. Liang sp. nov., plus a third species, G. ramosissima Okamura, from Taiwan. Two distinct patterns are reported for the development of the auxiliary cell ampullae: (1) ampullae consisting of three orders of unbranched filaments that branch after diploidization of the auxiliary cell and form a pericarp together with the surrounding secondary medullary filaments (G. taiwanensis type), and (2) ampullae composed of only two orders of unbranched filaments in which only a few cells are incorporated into a basal fusion cell after diploization of the auxiliary cell and the pericarp consists almost entirely of secondary medullary filaments (G. orientalis type). G. orientalis is positioned in a large clade based on rbcL gene sequence analysis that includes the type species of Grateloupia C. Agardh 1822, G. filicina. G. taiwanensis clusters with a clade that includes the generitype of Phyllymenia J. Agardh 1848, Ph. belangeri from South Africa; that of Prionitis J. Agardh 1851, Pr. lanceolata from Pacific North America; and that of Pachymeniopsis Y. Yamada ex Kawab. 1954, Pa. lanceolata from Japan. A reexamination of the type species of the genera Grateloupia, Phyllymenia, Prionitis, and Pachymeniopsis is required to clarify the generic and interspecific relationships among the species presently placed in Grateloupia.
Prognostic Value of Signal‐Averaged Electrocardiogram in Chagas Disease
Authors: RIBEIRO ANTONIO LUIZ PINHO , CAVALVANTI PAULO SÉRGIO , LOMBARDI FEDERICO , NUNES MARIA DO CARMO PEREIRA , BARROS MÁRCIO VINÍCIUS LINS , ROCHA MANOEL OTÁVIO DA COSTA 
Published: February 2008

Background: The value of signal‐averaged ECG (SAECG) in the risk stratification of Chagas disease (ChD), a potentially lethal illness prevalent in Latin America, remains controversial. The aim of this prospective longitudinal study was to determine the prognostic value of SAECG in ChD, using multivariate models with other established prognostic predictors, and to develop a simple prediction risk score. Methods: The study enrolled 184 ambulatory ChD patients (107 men; age: 48 ± 12 years) in sinus rhythm and without other systemic diseases. All patients underwent comprehensive evaluation that included clinical examination, ECG, chest X‐ray, 24‐hour Holter monitoring, echocardiogram, stress testing, and time domain SAECG. Individual medical therapy was adjusted according to a standardized treatment regimen. The association of potential risk factors obtained by noninvasive evaluation and death was tested by Cox proportional‐hazards analysis. Results: During mean follow‐up time of 74 ± 17 months, 13 patients died. Three independent prognostic factors were identified: left ventricular ejection fraction <50% (HR = 5.2, P = 0.048), ventricular tachycardia at either Holter monitoring or stress testing (HR = 9.9, P = 0.036), and prolonged (>150 ms) filtered QRS complex (HR = 4.3, P = 0.035). A prognostic score developed considering the number of risk factors of each patient had an excellent performance in predicting death (c statistic: 0.92). Conclusions: Prolonged filtered QRS duration obtained by SAECG is an independent predictor of death in ChD. A prediction score including three risk factors, depressed left ventricular ejection fraction, ventricular tachycardia and prolonged filtered QRS complex, has shown to be useful for stratifying risk categories in ChD.
Poor correlation between coronary artery calcification and obstructive coronary artery disease in an end‐stage renal disease patient
Authors: TONG Li‐Li , MEHROTRA Rajnish , SHAVELLE David M. , BUDOFF Matthew , ADLER Sharon 
Published: February 2008

AbstractVascular calcification is highly prevalent and often severe in patients with chronic kidney disease. Arterial calcification in patients with chronic kidney disease can result from the deposition of mineral along the intimal layer of arteries in conjunction with atheromatous plaques or from calcium deposition in the medial wall of arteries, also known as Monckeberg's sclerosis. Whether coronary artery calcium scores as measured by electron beam computed tomography correlate with occlusive atherosclerotic disease in the dialysis population is uncertain. Here we report a case of an asymptomatic patient with diabetes mellitus and end‐stage renal disease undergoing maintenance hemodialysis, who was found to have extremely elevated coronary artery calcium scores on electron beam computed tomography, but varied degrees of atherosclerotic plaque in her coronary arteries on coronary angiography. This suggests that in addition to the calcification anticipated in a remodeled intima, a proportion of the calcification is also likely to be in the arterial media. Thus, this case demonstrates that even an extremely high coronary calcium score may not be a satisfactory surrogate marker for obstructive atherosclerosis in elderly diabetic dialysis patients.
Pilot study to assess increased dialysis efficiency in patients with limited blood flow rates due to vascular access problems
Authors: MANDOLFO Salvatore , BORLANDELLI Sabrina , IMBASCIATI Enrico , BADALAMENTI Salvatore , GRAZIANI Giorgio , SERENI Luisa , VARESANI Michele , WRATTEN Mary Loise , CORSI Alessandro , ELLI Attilio 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIn the last few years, the number of hemodialysis patients with inadequate blood flow (Qb) rates has increased due to vascular access problems. To avoid a clinical status of underdialysis, these patients need long‐lasting dialysis sessions. However, other factors aimed to optimize the dialysis dose have to be considered. High‐efficiency convective therapies, such as online hemodiafiltration (HDF), are claimed to be superior to high‐flux hemodialysis (HF‐HD) in improving the dialysis efficacy, but treatment efficacy is strongly related to blood flow rate and infusion volumes. Online mid‐dilution (HDF‐MD) with the Nephros OL‐pure MD190 represents a new HDF concept to increase the removal of middle molecules. In a cross‐over clinical trial, 8 patients, with Qb eff <300 mL/min, received either online HDF‐MD or HF‐HD; Qd was 700 mL/min, the time duration was 240 min, and the filtration volume in HDF‐MD was 112±7 mL/min. No differences were found for Kt/V, urea, and creatinine clearances. Clearance of both small phosphate (P) large β2‐microglobulin (β2m), and leptin (L) solutes was significantly greater for MD (P 217±32, β2m 85.5±10, L 42.6±18 mL/min) than for HF‐HD (P 178±32, β2m 71.9±13, L 32.1±12 mL/min). The results of this study indicate that HDF remains the best means of providing increased removal of large‐molecular weight solutes even in patients with vascular access problems.
Low intraspecific aggression level in the polydomous and facultative polygynous antEctatomma tuberculatum
Authors: Zinck L. , Hora R.R. , Châline N. , Jaisson P. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractNestmate recognition is a key feature of social insects, as it preserves colony integrity. However, discrimination of non‐nestmates and nestmate recognition mechanisms are highly variable according to species and social systems. Here, we investigated the intraspecific level of aggression in the facultative polygynous and polydomous ant,Ectatomma tuberculatumOlivier (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae), in a population with a strong genetic structure. We found that the intraspecific level of aggression was generally low in this population ofE. tuberculatum. However, the level of aggression was significantly correlated with the geographical distance, suggesting that both genetic and environmental cues could be involved in nestmate recognition and discrimination mechanisms. Moreover, polydomy was confirmed by the absence of aggression between workers from nests at a distance of 3 m, while the level of aggression was significantly higher between workers from nests separated by a distance of 10 or 1300 m. Field experiments showed that the low level of aggression between neighbouring colonies was associated with shared foraging areas, which could suggest that familiarization processes may occur in this species. We propose that the particular social organization of this species, with secondary polygyny, polydomy, and budding, may have favoured a high acceptance threshold, because of the low probability of interactions with unrelated conspecifics, the high cost of erroneously rejecting nestmates, and the low cost of accepting non‐nestmate workers. The resulting open recognition system can thus allow privileged relationships between neighbouring colonies and promote the ecological dominance ofE. tuberculatumin the mosaic of arboreal ants.
Resveratrol enhances GLUT‐4 translocation to the caveolar lipid raft fractions through AMPK/Akt/eNOS signalling pathway in diabetic myocardium
Authors: Penumathsa S. Varma , Thirunavukkarasu M. , Zhan L. , Maulik G. , Menon V. P. , Bagchi D. , Maulik N. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractHomeostasis of blood glucose by insulin involves stimulation of glucose uptake by translocation of glucose transporter Glut‐4 from intracellular pool to the caveolar membrane system. In this study we examined resveratrol (RSV)‐mediated Glut‐4 translocation in the streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic myocardium. The rats were randomized into three groups: Control (Con), Diabetes Mellitus (DM) (STZ 65 mg/kg b.w., i.p.) & DM + RSV (2.5 mg/kg b.wt. for 2 weeks orally) (RSV). Isolated rat hearts were used as per the experimental model. RSV induced glucose uptake was observed in vitro with H9c2 cardiac myoblast cells. Decreased blood glucose level was observed after 30 days (375 mg/dl) in RSV‐treated rats when compared to DM (587 mg/dl). Treatment with RSV demonstrated increased Adenosine Mono Phosphate Kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation compared to DM. Lipid raft fractions demonstrated decreased expression of Glut‐4, Cav‐3 (0.4, 0.6‐fold) in DM which was increased to 0.75‐and 1.1‐fold on RSV treatment as compared to control. Increased Cav‐1 expression (1.4‐fold) in DM was reduced to 0.7‐fold on RSV treatment. Increased phosphorylation of endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS) & Akt was also observed in RSV compared to DM (P< 0.05). Confocal microscopy and co‐immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated decreased association of Glut‐4/Cav‐3 and increased association of Cav‐1/eNOS in DM as compared to control and converse results were obtained on RSV treatment. Our results suggests that the effect of RSV is non‐insulin dependent and triggers some of the similar intracellular insulin signalling components in myocardium such as eNOS, Akt through AMPK pathway and also by regulating the caveolin‐1 and caveolin‐3 status that might play an essential role in Glut‐4 translocation and glucose uptake in STZ‐ induced type‐1 diabetic myocardium.
STUDIES ON THE PHOTO DEGRADATION OF TRYPTOPHAN
Authors: Leaver I. H. , Lennox F. G. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract— The photodegradation of tryptophan in aqueous solution increases steadily with decrease in wavelength over the U.V. range 370–230 mμ, but the action spectrum does not parallel the absorption spectrum over these wavelengths. Thus appreciable decomposition occurs at wavelengths greater than 300 mp, even though at the concentrations tested the indole ring does not absorb energy in this region, and a photosensitive auto‐oxidation mechanism is suggested to account for this.The quantum efficiency for the destruction tryptophan at 265 mμ is 0 01 at pH 4, 5 and 7, but increases to 0.02 at pH 12. For the acetyl, ester and amide derivatives it is 0.03 in neutral solution.The yellowing of tryptophan solutions during irradiation is accompanied by the appearance of an absorption maximum at about 305 mμ in the differential absorption spectrum. The increase in optical density at this wavelength bears a direct relationship to the decrease in optical density at 280 mμ: the degree of yellowing is related to the degree of destruction of tryptophan. It is less pronounced in neutral solution than at higher or lower pH values.The yellowing of N‐substituted tryptophan derivatives at 265 mμ is appreciably less than that of tryptophan, whereas derivatives with a free amino group are indistinguishable from the unsubstituted amino acid in this respect.
Improved RNA quality and TaqMan®Pre-amplification method (PreAmp) to enhance expression analysis from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) materials
Authors: Li Jinghuan , Smyth Paul , Cahill Susanne , Denning Karen , Flavin Richard , Aherne Sinead , Pirotta Marco , Guenther Simone M , O'Leary John J , Sheils Orla 
Published: February 2008

Abstract

Background
Archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues represent an abundant source of clinical specimens; however their use is limited in applications involving analysis of gene expression due to RNA degradation and modification during fixation and processing. This study improved the quality of RNA extracted from FFPE by introducing a heating step into the selected extraction protocols. Further, it evaluated a novel pre-amplification system (PreAmp) designed to enhance expression analysis from tissue samples using assays with a range of amplicon size (62–164 bp).

Results
Results from the Bioanalyzer and TaqMan® data showed improvement of RNA quality extracted using the modified protocols from FFPE. Incubation at 70°C for 20 minutes was determined to be the best condition of those tested to disrupt cross-links while not compromising RNA integrity. TaqMan® detection was influenced by master mix, amplicon size and the incorporation of a pre-amplification step. TaqMan® PreAmp consistently achieved decreased CT values in both snap frozen and FFPE aliquots compared with no pre-amplification.

Conclusion
Modification to extraction protocols has facilitated procurement of RNA that may be successfully amplified using QRT-PCR. TaqMan® PreAmp system is a robust and practical solution to limited quantities of RNA from FFPE extracts.
Rutoside decreases human macrophage-derived inflammatory mediators and improves clinical signs in adjuvant-induced arthritis
Authors: Kauss Tina , Moynet Daniel , Rambert Jérôme , Al-Kharrat Abir , Brajot Stephane , Thiolat Denis , Ennemany Rachid , Fawaz Fawaz , Mossalayi M Djavad 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Background
Dietary flavonols may play an important role in the adjunct therapy of chronic inflammation. The availability of therapeutic formulations of pentahydroxyflavone glycoside, rutoside (RU), led us to investigate the ability of this molecule to modulate the release of various proinflammatory mediators from human activated macrophages in vitro and to ameliorate arthritic markers in a rat model.

Methods
RU was added simultaneously to human macrophages during their activation. Cells were then analyzed for inflammation-related gene expression using a specific array, and cell supernatants were collected to measure inflammatory mediators. RU was also injected into adjuvant-induced arthritic rats, and disease progression and body weight were evaluated until 50 days after injection. Sera and peritoneal macrophages were also collected to quantify the RU effect on various inflammatory markers.

Results
RU inhibited inflammation-related gene expression in activated human macrophages and the release of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1, and IL-6 from these cells. In a rat model, RU inhibited clinical signs of chronic arthritis, correlating with decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines detected in rat sera and macrophage supernatants.

Conclusion
Thus, RU may have clinical value in reducing inflammatory manifestations in human arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.