bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Methylglyoxal accumulation by glutathione depletion leads to cell cycle arrest in Dictyostelium
Authors: Choi Chang‐Hoon , Park Seong‐Jun , Jeong Sun‐Young , Yim Hyung‐Soon , Kang Sa‐Ouk 
Published: October 2008

SummaryReduced glutathione (GSH) serves as a primary redox buffer and its depletion causes growth inhibition or apoptosis in many organisms. In Dictyostelium discoideum, the null mutant (gcsA‐) of gcsA encoding γ‐glutamylcysteine synthetase shows growth arrest and developmental defect when GSH is depleted. To investigate the mechanism by which GSH depletion induces growth arrest, a proteomic analysis was performed and aldose reductase (AlrA) was identified as the most prominently induced protein in gcsA‐ cells. Induction of AlrA was dependent on GSH concentration and was repressed by GSH but not effectively by either the reducing agent such as dithiothreitol or overexpression of superoxide dismutase. Methylglyoxal (MG), a toxic α‐ketoaldehyde, strongly induced alrA expression and AlrA catalysed MG reduction efficiently. The alrA knockdown gcsA‐ cells (gcsA‐/alrAas) exhibited more decreased growth rate than gcsA‐ cells, whereas the gcsA‐ cells overexpressing alrA (gcsA‐/alrAoe) showed the recovery of growth rate. Interestingly, intracellular MG levels were significantly augmented in gcsA‐/alrAas cells compared with gcsA‐ cells following GSH depletion. By contrast, gcsA‐/alrAoe cells showed repression of MG induction. Furthermore, MG treatment inhibited growth of wild‐type KAx3 cells, inducing G1 phase arrest. Thus, our findings suggest that MG accumulated by GSH depletion inhibits cell growth in Dictyostelium.
Access and utilization of a new low‐vision rehabilitation service
Authors: O'Connor Patricia M , Mu Lisa C , Keeffe Jill E 
Published: October 2008

AbstractBackground:  A new low‐vision service linking a public hospital and a non‐governmental organization was trialled in Melbourne, Australia. The factors associated with service use were investigated.Methods:  A survey was conducted with patients who used the service, those who accepted referrals but failed to attend and those who refused a referral. Hospital and non‐governmental organization representatives were also interviewed.Results:  Ninety‐eight eligible vision impaired people who were referred to the new service were recruited. Less than half (49%) followed through with their referral and attended the service. Proximity and convenience were listed as the main facilitators to service use while issues relating to transport, needing an accompanying person, lack of information about the service and poor health were the main barriers. More than a third of the non‐compliant and referral refusers spoke a language other than English. Sixty‐three per cent of all participants had not previously used low‐vision services. Of the two main eye conditions, 81% of referred age‐related macular degeneration participants (n = 26) attended the service, but only 32% of those with diabetic retinopathy (n = 31) did so.Conclusion:  As more than 60% of participants in each of the three groups had no prior use of low‐vision services, clearly current models of care are not reaching many who could benefit from such services. This suggests that higher rates of referral are warranted. However, given that substantially more were referred than attended, referral alone is obviously not the answer. Access and attitudinal barriers also need to be addressed.
Incorporation of a virtual assessment into a care pathway for initial glaucoma management: feasibility study
Authors: Rathod Dinesh , Win Thein , Pickering Susan , Austin Michael 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPurpose:  To investigate the feasibility of a glaucoma triage assessment based on the consideration of clinical data in a virtual clinic environment.Methods:  One hundred consecutive new patients were assessed by masked observers for a possible diagnosis of glaucoma or ocular hypertension by evaluation of clinical data compiled by a technician in the absence of the patient. The virtual clinic diagnoses were compared with those made by actual examination of the patient in the outpatient clinic.Results:  A total of 22% of subjects were excluded from interobserver comparison because of atypical scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. Of the 78% of subjects completing virtual and actual clinical assessments diagnostic agreement was good, weighted Kappa was of 0.72 (95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.59), sensitivity 94.4% and specificity 86.7%. No case of glaucoma was misdiagnosed as normal by virtual assessment.Conclusion:  Clinical findings and data relating to glaucoma may be evaluated in a virtual clinic with satisfactory diagnostic accuracy.
In vivo observations of chlorpromazine ocular deposits in a patient on long‐term chlorpromazine therapy
Authors: Razeghinejad Mohammad Reza , Nowroozzadeh Mohammad Hosein , Zamani Mohammad , Amini Nima 
Published: October 2008

AbstractChlorpromazine is known to deposit in ocular tissues when taken at high doses for prolonged periods. Chlorpromazine therapy in a 59‐year‐old schizophrenic man with a cumulative dosage exceeding 2500 g resulted in multiple white deposits in both corneas especially in the endothelium. Confocal microscopy revealed significant pleomorphism and polymegethism of endothelial cells. The anterior lens capsules opacities were star‐shaped and concentrated in the centre. Because of cataract and chronic angle closure glaucoma our high‐myopic patient underwent surgery, and light microscopic evaluation of the obtained anterior lens capsule during cataract surgery showed golden brown cytoplasmic deposits in the central epithelial cells and capsule. The peripheral epithelial cells of the removed capsule had no deposit. There were no sign of retinal deposits in the fundoscopy, optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography. In this patient chlorpromazine deposited mainly in the corneal endothelium, central anterior lens capsule and epithelial cells.
Neutralization of the membrane protein Nogo‐A enhances growth and reactive sprouting in established organotypic hippocampal slice cultures
Authors: Craveiro Luis M. , Hakkoum David , Weinmann Oliver , Montani Laura , Stoppini Luc , Schwab Martin E. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe reduced ability of central axons to regenerate after injury is significantly influenced by the presence of several molecules that inhibit axonal growth. Nogo‐A is one of the most studied and most potent of the myelin‐associated growth inhibitory molecules. Its neutralization, as well as interference with its signalling, allows for enhanced axonal sprouting and growth following injury. Using differentiated rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures treated for 5 days with either of two different function‐blocking anti‐Nogo‐A antibodies, we show an increase in CA3 fibre regeneration after lesion. In intact slices, 5 days of anti‐Nogo‐A antibody treatment led to increased sprouting of intact CA3 fibres that are positive for neurofilament 68. A transcriptomic approach confirmed the occurrence of a growth response on the molecular level upon Nogo‐A neutralization in intact cultures. Our results demonstrate that Nogo‐A neutralization for 5 days is sufficient for the induction of growth in mature CNS tissue without the prerequisite of an injury. Nogo‐A may therefore act as a tonic growth suppressor/stabilizer in the adult intact hippocampus.
A sensitizing d‐amphetamine regimen induces long‐lasting spinophilin protein upregulation in the rat striatum and limbic forebrain
Authors: Boikess Steven R. , Marshall John F. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractStructural studies have shown that chronic regimens of psychostimulants increase dendritic spine number in the rat striatum. The present study used Western blotting and radioimmunocytochemistry to examine psychostimulant‐induced changes in the levels of spinophilin, a protein found abundantly in dendritic spines. Spinophilin determinations were conducted in striatum as well as several other subcortical regions implicated in psychostimulant‐induced neuroplasticity. Rats received an escalating (1–8 mg/kg) dosing regimen of d‐amphetamine (twice daily, i.p.) for 5 weeks, were tested for locomotor sensitization, and were killed 28 days later. This amphetamine dosing regimen was found to induce a significant sensitization of locomotor activity in these animals. Using both Western blotting and radioimmunocytochemistry, spinophilin protein was found to be upregulated in the striatum of amphetamine‐treated rats. In addition, radioimmunocytochemistry revealed that spinophilin was increased in the septum, hippocampus, amygdala and the cingulate cortex, and was unchanged in sensorimotor cortices. Because it binds to F‐actin and protein phosphatase‐1, spinophilin has been proposed as a protein linking synaptic transmission to changes in spine morphology. Radioimmunocytochemistry for spinophilin provides a novel approach to identification of brain regions whose neurons undergo dendritic change after chronic exposure to drugs of abuse.
RISKY INDIVIDUALS AND THE POLITICS OF GENETIC RESEARCH INTO AGGRESSIVENESS AND VIOLENCE
Authors: PIERI ELISA , LEVITT MAIRI 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTNew genetic technologies promise to generate valuable insights into the aetiology of several psychiatric conditions, as well as a wider range of human and animal behaviours. Advances in the neurosciences and the application of new brain imaging techniques offer a way of integrating DNA analysis with studies that are looking at other biological markers of behaviour.While candidate ‘genes for’ certain conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, are said to be ‘un‐discovered’ at a faster rate than they are discovered, many studies are being conducted on personality traits such as aggressiveness and anti‐social traits. The clinical applicability and implications of these studies are often discussed within the scientific community. However, little attention has so far been paid to their possible policy implications in relation to criminality management and to Criminal Law itself. Similarly, the related ethical issues arising in the field of crime control, and the tensions between enhancing security for society and protecting civil liberties, are currently under‐explored.This paper investigates these ethical issues by focusing on the views of those professionals – including judges, lawyers, probation officers and social workers – who work with individuals ‘deemed at risk’ of violent and aggressive behaviours. It also discusses and problematizes mainstream rhetoric and arguments around the notion of ‘risky individuals’.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES, SECURITY AND ETHICS: THE CASE OF HIV/AIDS
Authors: SELGELID MICHAEL J. , ENEMARK CHRISTIAN 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTSecuritization of infectious diseases may involve suspension of ordinary human rights and liberties. In the event of an epidemic, therefore, it is important to limit the occasions upon which draconian disease control measures are implemented in the name of security. The term ‘security’, moreover, should not be used too loosely if it is to retain force and meaning in political discourse. It may be argued that the bar for disease securitization should be set high so that it is limited to contexts involving rapidly spreading pathogens. Such an approach, however, would rule out securitization of more slowly spreading, endemic diseases such as HIV/AIDS. An advantage of characterizing HIV/AIDS as a security threat in developing countries, where the burden of the disease is concentrated, is that this is likely to mobilize resources needed to improve the situation there. That is, if HIV/AIDS is convincingly framed as a security threat, then governments may recognize self‐interested reasons to ramp up control measures. Following consideration of arguments for narrow (excluding HIV/AIDS) versus broad (including HIV/AIDS) conceptions of security, we conclude that the legitimacy of ‘securitizing’ HIV/AIDS ultimately turns on empirical and semantic issues, and we emphasize the importance of distinguishing (1) the nature of the threat posed by HIV/AIDS and (2) the measures required to address that threat.
ETHICAL MODELS UNDERPINNING RESPONSES TO THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH: A COMPARISON OF APPROACHES TO COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL IN EUROPE
Authors: GAINOTTI SABINA , MORAN NICOLA , PETRINI CARLO , SHICKLE DARREN 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTIncreases in international travel and migratory flows have enabled infectious diseases to emerge and spread more rapidly than ever before. Hence, it is increasingly easy for local infectious diseases to become global infectious diseases (GIDs). National governments must be able to react quickly and effectively to GIDs, whether naturally occurring or intentionally instigated by bioterrorism.According to the World Health Organisation, global partnerships are necessary to gather the most up‐to‐date information and to mobilize resources to tackle GIDs when necessary. Communicable disease control also depends upon national public health laws and policies.The containment of an infectious disease typically involves detection, notification, quarantine and isolation of actual or suspected cases; the protection and monitoring of those not infected; and possibly even treatment. Some measures are clearly contentious and raise conflicts between individual and societal interests. In Europe national policies against infectious diseases are very heterogeneous.Some countries have a more communitarian approach to public health ethics, in which the interests of individual and society are more closely intertwined and interdependent, while others take a more liberal approach and give priority to individual freedoms in communicable disease control. This paper provides an overview of the different policies around communicable disease control that exist across a select number of countries across Europe. It then proposes ethical arguments to be considered in the making of public health laws, mostly concerning their effectiveness for public health protection.
SILENT WITNESS, ARTICULATE COLLECTIVE: DNA EVIDENCE AND THE INFERENCE OF VISIBLE TRAITS
Authors: M'CHAREK AMADE 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTDNA profiling is a well‐established technology for use in the criminal justice system, both in courtrooms and elsewhere. The fact that DNA profiles are based on non‐coding DNA and do not reveal details about the physical appearance of an individual has contributed to the acceptability of this type of evidence. Its success in criminal investigation, combined with major innovations in the field of genetics, have contributed to a change of role for this type of evidence. Nowadays DNA evidence is not merely about identification, where trace evidence is compared to a sample taken from a suspect. An ever‐growing role is anticipated for DNA profiling as an investigative tool, a technique aimed at generating a suspect where there is none. One of these applications is the inference of visible traits. As this article will show, racial classifications are at the heart of this application. The Netherlands and its legal regulation of ‘externally visible traits’ will serve as an example. It will be shown that, to make this technology work, a large number of actors has to be enrolled and their articulations invited. This indicates that instead of a ‘silent witness’, a DNA profile should rather be seen as an ‘articulate collective’. Based on two cases, I argue that the normativity of visible traits is context‐dependent. Taking into account the practices in which technology is put to use alerts us to novel ethical questions raised by their application.
From space words to transitive markers: the case of ancient Greek en‘in’1
Authors: Viti Carlotta 
Published: October 2008

AbstractWhile in many Indo‐European languages preverbs become markers of increased transitivity, in Homeric Greek they maintain their concrete local or directional function, and therefore may be compared with prepositions. Here we investigate how the prepositional use and the preverbal use may be performed by the same local particle, en‘in’. It appears that prepositions are used with nouns denoting inanimate objects. Instead, preverbs mainly select topical complements, which have human referents or are represented by personal pronouns. These results tally with the use of applicative structures outside the Indo‐European domain. Since topical complements are interpreted as referring to entire items that are completely affected by the verbal action, topicality appears to be the connection between space and transitivity.
Dummy pronoun insertion after conditional ‘if’ in Greco‐Corsican
Authors: Hajek John , Nicholas Nick 
Published: October 2008

AbstractIn the final generation of the Greek dialect spoken until recently in Corsica, a dummy subject pronoun emerged after conditional ‘if’. This pronoun, which displays no person or number agreement with its verb, is quite uncharacteristic of Greek, and instead appears to have grammaticalised with the conditional into a single form. We conclude that this is a calque from a similar construction used in the local Corsican variety of Italo‐Romance and elsewhere, counting as one of the few attested instances of syntactic borrowing from Romance into Greek. There is some ambivalence as to whether to treat this as a borrowed syntactic structure or as a lexical calque, although the available data point to the former as more likely.
A Bayesian Approach to Non-Parametric Monotone Function Estimation
Authors: Shively Thomas S. , Sager Thomas W. , Walker Stephen G. 
Published: October 2008

SummaryThe paper proposes two Bayesian approaches to non-parametric monotone function estimation. The first approach uses a hierarchical Bayes framework and a characterization of smooth monotone functions given by Ramsay that allows unconstrained estimation. The second approach uses a Bayesian regression spline model of Smith and Kohn with a mixture distribution of constrained normal distributions as the prior for the regression coefficients to ensure the monotonicity of the resulting function estimate. The small sample properties of the two function estimators across a range of functions are provided via simulation and compared with existing methods. Asymptotic results are also given that show that Bayesian methods provide consistent function estimators for a large class of smooth functions. An example is provided involving economic demand functions that illustrates the application of the constrained regression spline estimator in the context of a multiple-regression model where two functions are constrained to be monotone.
Expression and distribution of ‘high affinity’ glutamate transporters GLT1, GLAST, EAAC1 and of GCPII in the rat peripheral nervous system
Authors: Carozzi Valentina Alda , Canta Annalisa , Oggioni Norberto , Ceresa Cecilia , Marmiroli Paola , Konvalinka Jan , Zoia Chiara , Bossi Mario , Ferrarese Carlo , Tredici Giovanni , Cavaletti Guido 
Published: October 2008

Abstractl‐Glutamate is one of the major excitatory neurotransmitters in the mammalian central nervous system, but recently it has been shown to have a role also in the transduction of sensory input at the periphery, and in particular in the nociceptive pathway. An excess of glutamate is implicated in cases of peripheral neuropathies as well. Conventional therapeutic approaches for treating these diseases have focused on blocking glutamate receptors with small molecules or on reducing its synthesis of the receptors through the inhibition of glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), the enzyme that generates glutamate.In vivostudies have demonstrated that the pharmacological inhibition of GCPII can either prevent or treat the peripheral nerve changes in both BB/Wor and chemically induced diabetes in rats. In this study, we characterized the expression and distribution of glutamate transporters GLT1, GLAST, EAAC1 and of the enzyme GCPII in the peripheral nervous system of female Wistar rats. Immunoblotting results demonstrated that all glutamate transporters and GCPII are present in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the sciatic nerve. Immunofluorescence localization studies revealed that both DRG and sciatic nerves were immunopositive for all glutamate transporters and for GCPII. In DRG, satellite cells were positive for GLT1 and GCPII, whereas sensory neurons were positive for EAAC1. GLAST was localized in both neurons and satellite cells. In the sciatic nerve, GLT1 and GCPII were expressed in the cytoplasm of Schwann cells, whereas GLAST and EAAC1 stained the myelin layer. Our results give for the first time a complete characterization of the glutamate transporter system in the peripheral nervous system. Therefore, they are important both for understanding glutamatergic signalling in the PNS and for establishing new strategies to treat peripheral neuropathies.
Prospective study of the Perigee system for the management of cystocoeles – Medium‐term follow up
Authors: RANE Ajay , KANNAN Kurinji , BARRY Christopher , BALAKRISHNAN Siva , LIM Yik , CORSTIAANS Audrey 
Published: October 2008

Objectives:  The Perigee transobturator cystocoele repair system (AMS) was designed and first used in Townsville, Australia. This prospective study evaluates the efficacy and safety of this device for the management of cystocoeles.Methods:   Patients who underwent surgery with the Perigee system between March 2004 and December 2005 were reviewed. Patients who consecutively presented to our clinic with a stage 3 cystocoele or above were given information regarding the Perigee mesh surgery. Those who consented were included in our study. The study involved a questionnaire and POPQ assessment pre‐ and postoperatively at six weeks, three months, six months, 12 months and subsequently biannually.Results:  A total of 70 patients underwent surgery with the Perigee system between March 2004 and December 2005. There were no life‐threatening complications with the procedure. Five (7.1%) patients were found to have small mesh extrusion through the vagina, and three (4.28%) patients had recurrence of stage 2 cystocoele.Discussion/Conclusion:  On medium‐term evaluation (18 to 36 months) of the Perigee system the results seem very encouraging. The morbidity is minimal, as is the recurrence and mesh extrusion rate.
Schedule effect and laparoscopic‐assisted vaginal hysterectomy
Authors: CHANG Wei‐Chun , LIN Cheng‐Chieh , CHEN Lu‐Min , Wu Hong‐Dar Isaac , YEH Lian‐Shung , Lin Long‐Yau 
Published: October 2008

Background:  Prolonged surgical workload and different starting times of laparoscopic‐assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) might be factors influencing surgical and patient's outcomes.Aims:  The aim of this study is to elucidate possible detrimental results of the schedule effect on LAVH.Methods:  Retrospective cohort study based on patient charts and hospital's electronic database in a tertiary teaching hospital. A total of 217 consecutive women who underwent LAVH for gynecological diseases were enrolled. Among them, 159 LAVHs performed by four surgeons were divided into three groups according to three different starting times of the operation. Among 159 LAVHs, 110 performed by the same surgeon were divided into three groups in the same way. Variables related to operative and medical outcomes were compared and analysed by one‐way anova and chi‐squared test.Results:  Data on both all women (159 cases) and subgroup women (110 cases) revealed that no statistical significant differences among the three groups including length of hospital stay, shift of serum haemoglobin, shift of serum haematocrit, flatulence‐relief time, surgical blood loss, blood transfusion rate, rate of postoperative fluid injection over two days after surgery or complication rate. Interestingly, the first LAVH scheduled within the 08.30 to 10.29 hours time slot had the longest mean operation time. LAVHs starting within the 15.30 to 17.29 hours time slot had the shortest mean operation time.Conclusion:  The time of day in which LAVH is performed does not have a detrimental effect on outcome. Successful LAVH is dependent on multidisciplinary team work to achieve good surgical and patient outcomes.