bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Lactational Exposure to Soy Isoflavones on Reproductive System in Neonatal Female Rats*
Authors: Liu Zhaoping , Zhang Xiaopeng , Li Li , Zhang Wenzhong , Cui Wenming , Song Yan , Wang Wei , Jia Xudong , Li Ning , Yan Weixing 
Published: February 2008

Abstract:  To examine effects of lactational exposure to soy isoflavones on female reproductive system, soy isoflavones, 0 (control), 10, 50, 100, 150 or 200 mg/kg body weight, were administered to maternal rats by gavage daily during postnatal days 5–10. Ten female litters were killed on day 11. Uterine and ovary weights, serum oestradiol and progesterone concentrations, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, mRNA expressions of oestrogen receptor, androgen receptor and progesterone receptor in uterus or ovary were measured. When compared to the control group, litters in the 150 and 200 mg/kg body weight groups had significantly higher ovary and uterine weights (P < 0.05). Endometrial thickness was also significantly increased. Isoflavone‐treated groups had increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen staining in comparison to the control group. Litters in the 50, 150 and 200 mg/kg body weight groups had significantly higher oestradiol concentration while lower progesterone concentrations than those in the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). All soy isoflavone‐treated groups had androgen receptor mRNA expressions in ovary and uterus comparable to the control group. Progesterone receptor mRNA expression in the 150 and 200 mg/kg body weight groups was significantly lower than that in control group (P < 0.01). However, ovaries in the 150 and 200 mg/kg body weight groups had significantly higher oestrogen receptor mRNA expression while the uterus in these two treatment groups had significantly lower expressions, when compared to the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In conclusion, lactational exposure to isoflavones could result in oestrogen‐like actions on the reproductive system of neonate female rats, which mechanisms may be, at least, involved with modifications of hormone production and steroid receptor transcription in the reproductive system.
Acute Acetaminophen Overdose Is Associated with Dose‐Dependent Hypokalaemia: A Prospective Study of 331 Patients
Authors: Waring W. Stephen , Stephen Alexandra F. L. , Malkowska Aleks M. , Robinson Oliver D. G. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract:  Hypokalaemia is a recognized complication of acute acetaminophen overdose. It is unclear whether this might be a pharmacological effect of acetaminophen, or due to association with confounding factors. The present study sought to better characterize the relationship between acetaminophen concentrations and risk of hypokalaemia. A prospective study of patients received N‐acetylcysteine treatment within 15 hr of acute acetaminophen ingestion. Serum potassium concentrations were determined before and after N‐acetylcysteine. Serum acetaminophen concentrations were used to indicate overall drug exposure by comparison to the Rumack–Matthew nomogram. Hypokalaemia was pre‐defined by serum concentrations <3.5 mmol/l, and groups compared by Mann–Whitney tests. There were 331 patients. Median (95% confidence interval) fall in serum potassium concentration after N‐acetylcysteine was 0.05 mmol/l (−0.11–0.30 mmol/l) if acetaminophen concentrations were below the ‘high‐risk’ treatment line, 0.30 mmol/l (0.17–0.40 mmol/l) if between the ‘high‐risk’ and ‘normal’ treatment lines (P = 0.0358), and 0.40 mmol/l (0.20–0.50 mmol/l) if above the ‘normal’ treatment line (P = 0.0136). A receiver operating characteristic showed that high acetaminophen concentrations were predictive of hypokalaemia (P = 0.0001 versus zero discriminatory line), and 4 hr acetaminophen concentration >156 mmol/l gave 81% sensitivity and 48% specificity. The risk of hypokalaemia after acute acetaminophen overdose depends on the extent of acetaminophen exposure, irrespective of N‐acetylcysteine administration and independent of whether vomiting occurred. Acetaminophen appears to cause concentration‐dependent hypokalaemia after overdose, and the pharmacological basis requires further consideration.
MARKET TESTING AND PRISON RIOTS: HOW PUBLIC‐SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION CONTRIBUTED TO A PRISON RIOT
Authors: RYNNE JOHN , HARDING RICHARD W. , WORTLEY RICHARD 
Published: February 2008

Research Summary:Macroeconomic reforms have swept many modern Western corrections jurisdictions into a world of commercial realities, privatization, and competition. The following case study reviews how competition (i.e., a market test) between the public and the private sectors in tendering for the operation of the Woodford Corrections Centre contributed to a riot. A combined model of the threshold and state‐centered theories of prison riots provides a template that clarifies the interactions of factors that contributed to the riot. Through document analysis and interviews, it is evident that despite producing a highly innovative bid judged superior to the private sector, the public sector was caught in a policy bind that led to a prison riot 3 weeks after the new center opened.Policy Implications:This research highlights important policy considerations for governments initiating policy‐driven prison reform. First, the research highlights the need for custodial policy development and implementation to be strategic and part of an overall reform agenda that considers prison riot theory. Second, if the public sector is to be involved in open competition with the private sector, then policy should be consistent with the conditions of the competition. Prisons, whether public or private, cannot cope successfully with reformist policy that does not consider adequately the interactions of the individuals in the prison.
British Society for Haematology, Slide session, Annual Scientific Meeting, Bournemouth, 2007
Authors: BHAVNANI M. , BRAITHWAITE J. , BURTHEM J. , CROTTY G. , GIBSON B. , HUTCHINSON C. , JACKSON G. H. , LAYTON M. , LUCAS G. , MACARTNEY C. , MATTHEY F. , PARDOE L. , RADIA D. , WEBB S. 
Published: February 2008

SummaryEight cases discussed by experts at the 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Society of Haematology are presented as at the meeting, with a discussion of the morphological features, digital information and differential diagnosis being followed by further information and a final diagnosis. Additionally, digital slides of two of the cases were available to be viewed by the internet with the opportunity for delegates to suggest diagnoses.
MITF‐CM, a newly identified isoform of microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor, is expressed in cultured mast cells
Authors: SHIOHARA M. , SHIGEMURA T. , SUZUKI T. , TANAKA M. , MORII E. , OHTSU H. , SHIBAHARA S. , KOIKE K. 
Published: February 2008

SummaryThe microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor (MITF) gene encodes a basic helix‐loop‐helix and leucin zipper protein. In this study, we identified a novel MITF isoform, MITF‐CM, which possesses a unique amino terminus. Exon 1CM is located 84 kb upstream of the exon encoding the B1b domain. MITF‐CM was expressed in the human mast cell line HMC‐1, the human basophilic cell line KU812, and CB‐derived mast cells cultured for 10 weeks as well as bone marrow mononuclear cells. Transient transfection of MITF‐CM cDNA in COS‐7 cells resulted in the expression of a 64‐kDa protein, detected by Western blotting, and nuclear localization of the protein, detected by immunostaining. The transient cotransfection of a luciferase construct under the control of the tyrosinase promoter and MITF‐CM cDNA increased luciferase activity threefold. In contrast, none of the MITF isoforms transactivated both the tryptase and chymase gene promoters, indicating differences in the gene transactivation system between humans and mice.
Blood viscosity modulates tissue perfusion – sometimes and somewhere
Authors: LENZ C. , REBEL A. , WASCHKE K.F. , KOEHLER R.C. , FRIETSCH T. 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYEach organ possesses specific properties for controlling microvascular perfusion. Such specificity provides an opportunity to design transfusion fluids that target thrombo‐embolic or vasospasm‐induced ischemia in a particular organ or that optimize overall perfusion from systemic shock. The role of viscosity in the design of these fluids might be underestimated, because viscosity is rarely monitored or considered in critical care decisions. Studies linking viscosity‐dependent changes of microvascular perfusion to outcome‐relevant data suggest that whole blood viscosity is negligible as a determinant of microvascular perfusion under physiological conditions when autoregulation is effective. Because autoregulation is driven to maintain oxygen supply constant, the organism will compensate for changes in blood viscosity to sustain oxygen delivery. In contrast, under pathological conditions in the brain and elsewhere, increases of overall viscosity should be avoided – including all the situations where vascular autoregulatory mechanisms are inoperative due to ischemia, structural damage or physiologic dysfunction. As latter conditions cannot be identified with high certainty, the risks that accompany therapeutic correction of blood viscosity outweigh the benefits. The ability to monitor blood viscosity at the bedside and to link changes in viscosity to outcome parameters in various clinical conditions would provide more solid foundation for evidence‐based clinical management.
Novel strategies for transporting cellular hemoglobin‐based oxygen carriers in the systemic circulation
Authors: HARRIS DAVID R. , PALMER ANDRE F. 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYThis review focuses on innovative chemical and biomolecular design strategies for engineering cellular hemoglobin‐based oxygen carriers with prolonged systemic circulatory half‐lives. Traditional lipid formulations used in the self‐assembly of liposome encapsulated hemoglobin dispersions are discussed in light of newly designed liposome, nanoparticle and polymersome encapsulated hemoglobin dispersions. The clinical transfusion potential of these cellular HBOCs is discussed in terms of key design parameters such as: particle size distribution, hemoglobin encapsulation efficiency, methemoglobin level, oxygen affinity, cooperativity coefficient, circulation kinetics and biodistribution.
The safety profile of Hemospan®: a new oxygen therapeutic designed using maleimide poly(ethylene) glycol conjugation to human hemoglobin
Authors: VANDEGRIFF KIM D. , YOUNG MARK A. , KEIPERT PETER E. , WINSLOW ROBERT M. 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYHemoglobin‐based oxygen carriers have been under development for several decades, but so far none has completed clinical trials due to safety issues, including fundamental concerns regarding hemoglobin‐induced vasoconstriction and oxidative reactions. The question becomes whether these attributes are inherent to the hemoglobin molecule itself, or if the molecule can be modified in such a way as to avoid untoward side effects. To this end, Sangart designed a new type of oxygen therapeutic, Hemospan®, based on site‐specific, maleimide poly(ethylene) glycol conjugation chemistry. The product, also referred to as MP4, is neither vasoconstrictive nor does it promote oxidation in vivo. The design principles were three‐fold: (i) increase hemoglobin molecular size to prolong intravascular retention; (ii) increase oxygen affinity to prevent premature unloading of oxygen in the arterioles, thus avoiding arteriolar vasoconstriction; and (iii) optimize colloidal osmotic pressure and viscosity to enhance blood flow. Preclinical studies with Hemospan in animal models of hemodilution and hemorrhage show maintenance of blood pressure and cardiac output, with improved oxygen delivery compared to early‐generation products of cross‐linked and polymerized hemoglobins. Four Phase I and II clinical trials have been completed, showing that Hemospan is generally well tolerated in humans, with additional evidence of efficacy through Hemospan's capacity to impart hemodynamic stability in surgical patients. Two multi‐center Phase III trials of Hemospan in orthopedic surgery are now underway in Europe.
Perfluorocarbons as gas transporters for O2, NO, CO and volatile anesthetics
Authors: CABRALES PEDRO , VÁZQUEZ BEATRIZ Y. SALAZAR , NEGRETE ADOLFO CHÁVEZ , INTAGLIETTA MARCOS 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYPerfluorocarbons (PFCs) developed for the intravascular transport of oxygen have a higher solubility for gases compared to plasma and therefore can be used to transport and deliver a variety of bioactive gases for therapeutic purposes. Intravenous infusion of PFCs preequilibrated with carbon monoxide gas may provide a means to produce vasodilatation. A similar effect can be obtained by preloading PFC emulsions with nitric oxide (NO), as well as introducing unsaturated PFC emulsions in the circulation, since these can scavenge and redistribute NO. Volatile anesthetics delivered in conjunction with the intravenous presence of PFCs are more effective at lower dosages, and provide for a more uniform anesthetic effect in terms of duration of anesthesia. PFC emulsions are therefore proposed as vehicles for the transport and delivery of gases to the tissues, offering high accuracy of dosage, and avoiding uncertainties of gas delivery associated with gas inspiration via the lungs.
Resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock: recovery of oxygen carrying capacity or perfusion? Efficacy of new plasma expanders
Authors: TSAI AMY G. , CABRALES PEDRO , ACHARYA SEETHARAMA A. , INTAGLIETTA MARCOS 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYPotential shortages and perceived issues with the biosafety of blood have strengthened interest in the search for alternatives to blood. Currently available plasma expanders are effective in recovering pressure by volume expansion but are not safely deployed beyond the transfusion trigger. Conventional reasoning indicates that this limitation relates to oxygen carrying capacity reaching the threshold where it no longer can satisfy the metabolic demand of the organism; however, recent findings show that this limitation is also determined by other physical factors such as their viscosity and colloidal osmotic pressure. These fluid transport properties have a strong influence on the maintenance of microvascular perfusion and function in conditions of extreme hemodilution that obtain when resuscitation is continued beyond the transfusion trigger with plasma expanders. This realization leads to the possibility of developing new plasma expanders whose physical properties enhance microvascular function compensating for the decreased intrinsic oxygen carrying capacity in extreme hemodilution via enhanced microvascular perfusion. This review presents experimental, systemic and microvascular findings obtained using polyethylene glycol conjugated albumin solutions in extreme hemodilution and shock resuscitation in the hamster window chamber model, concluding that plasma expanders of this type can be effectively used beyond the transfusion trigger.
Solution to the problems of acellular hemoglobins by encapsulation and the intrinsic issues of hemoglobin vesicles as a molecular assembly
Authors: SAKAI HIROMI , SOU KEITARO , TSUCHIDA EISHUN 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYHemoglobin vesicles (HbV), or liposome‐encapsulated hemoglobins, are developed as artificial oxygen carriers for the use as a transfusion alternative. The safety and efficacy of HbV have been clarified in detail: HbV can overcome the side effects of hemoglobin (Hb) molecules (stroma‐free, and intra‐ or intermolecularly crosslinked) such as vasoconstriction, hypertension and possible vascular damage induced by direct contact of the vascular surface with Hb. On the other hand, intrinsic issues related to the suspension of HbV as a molecular assembly have to be considered: blood compatibility, structural and dispersion stabilities of the vesicles, and the requirement of prompt degradation in the reticuloendothelial system. Having overcome these issues, the results make us confident in advancing further development of HbV. Easy manipulation of physicochemical parameters of HbV provides possibilities for various clinical applications in addition to their use as a transfusion alternative.
Modulation of the polyethylene glycol‐hemoglobin structure to increase the efficiency of plasma expansion and O2 carrying capacity
Authors: ACHARYA SEETHARAMA A. , INTAGLIETTA MARCOS , TSAI AMY G. 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYPolyethylene glycol (PEG) surface decoration of hemoglobin (Hb) is being developed as a design strategy for generating an oxygen carrier with optimal plasma expansion characteristics and maintenance of microvascular function. HexaPEGylated Hb using six copies of 5 kDa PEG provides excellent tissue perfusion when used to correct blood volume losses at a plasma concentration of 2 g Hb/dL (as compared with unPEGylated Hbs used at 6–9 g Hb/dL). Efficacy attained with limited concentration of Hb allows effective use of available Hb obtained from outdated blood. However, the high oxygen affinity of PEG‐Hb in combination with its low plasma concentration limits the effective oxygen delivery capacity, impacting tissue oxygenation. This problem can be remedied either by lowering oxygen affinity of PEG‐Hb or by increasing its concentration in the circulation. PEGylation of low oxygen affinity intramolecularly cross‐linked Hbs, for example αα‐fumaryl‐Hb, lowers oxygen affinity and modulating the pattern of PEGylation (size and number of PEG‐chains to lower the colloidal osmotic pressure of PEG‐Hb) reduces the tendency to dilute the PEG‐Hb concentration in circulation because of fluid shifts into the intravascular volume. Novel chemistry platforms for PEGylation set the stage for next generation lower oxygen affinity PEGylated Hbs that optimizes oxygen delivery and tissue perfusion.
When Loading Working Memory Reduces Distraction: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence from an Auditory-Visual Distraction Paradigm
Authors: SanMiguel Iria , Corral María-José , Escera Carles 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
The sensitivity of involuntary attention to top-down modulation was tested using an auditory-visual distraction task and a working memory (WM) load manipulation in subjects performing a simple visual classification task while ignoring contingent auditory stimulation. The sounds were repetitive standard tones (80%) and environmental novel sounds (20%). Distraction caused by the novel sounds was compared across a 1-back WM condition and a no-memory control condition, both involving the comparison of two digits. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to the sounds were recorded, and the N1/MMN (mismatch negativity), novelty-P3, and RON components were identified in the novel minus standard difference waveforms. Distraction was reduced in the WM condition, both behaviorally and as indexed by an attenuation of the late phase of the novelty-P3. The transient/change detection mechanism indexed by MMN was not affected by the WM manipulation. Sustained, slow frontal and parietal waveforms related to WM processes were found on the standard ERPs. The present results indicate that distraction caused by irrelevant novel sounds is reduced when a WM component is involved in the task, and that this modulation by WM load takes place at a late stage of the orienting response, all in all confirming that involuntary attention is under the control of top-down mechanisms. Moreover, as these results contradict predictions of the load theory of selective attention and cognitive control, it is suggested that the WM load effects on distraction depend on the nature of the distractor-target relationships.
Effects of Stimulus Difficulty and Repetition on Printed Word Identification: An fMRI Comparison of Nonimpaired and Reading-disabled Adolescent Cohorts
Authors: Pugh Kenneth R. , Frost Stephen J. , Sandak Rebecca , Landi Nicole , Rueckl Jay G. , Constable R. Todd , Seidenberg Mark S. , Fulbright Robert K. , Katz Leonard , Mencl W. Einar 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Functional neuroimaging studies indicate that a primary marker of specific reading disability (RD) is reduced activation of left hemisphere (LH) posterior regions during performance of reading tasks. However, the severity of this disruption, and the extent to which these LH systems might be available for reading under any circumstances, is unclear at present. Experiment 1 examined the cortical effects of stimulus manipulations (frequency, imageability, consistency) that have known facilitative effects on reading performance for both nonimpaired (NI) and RD readers. Experiment 2 examined stimulus repetition, another facilitative variable, in an additional sample of adolescent NI and RD readers. For NI readers, factors that made words easier to process were associated with relatively reduced activation. For RD readers, facilitative factors resulted in increased activation in these same reading-related sites, suggesting that the LH reading circuitry in adolescent RD is poorly trained but not wholly disrupted.
Left Posterior Temporal Regions are Sensitive to Auditory Categorization
Authors: Desai Rutvik , Liebenthal Einat , Waldron Eric , Binder Jeffrey R. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Recent studies suggest that the left superior temporal gyrus and sulcus (LSTG/S) play a role in speech perception, although the precise function of these areas remains unclear. Here, we test the hypothesis that regions in the LSTG/S play a role in the categorization of speech phonemes, irrespective of the acoustic properties of the sounds and prior experience of the listener with them. We examined changes in functional magnetic resonance imaging brain activation related to a perceptual shift from nonphonetic to phonetic analysis of sine-wave speech analogs. Subjects performed an identification task before scanning and a discrimination task during scanning with phonetic (P) and nonphonetic (N) sine-wave sounds, both before (Pre) and after (Post) being exposed to the phonetic properties of the P sounds. Behaviorally, experience with the P sounds induced categorical identification of these sounds. In the PostP &gt; PreP and PostP &gt; PostN contrasts, an area in the posterior LSTG/S was activated. For both P and N sounds, the activation in this region was correlated with the degree of categorical identification in individual subjects. The results suggest that these areas in the posterior LSTG/S are sensitive neither to the acoustic properties of speech nor merely to the presence of phonetic information, but rather to the listener's awareness of category representations for auditory inputs.
Class Information Predicts Activation by Object Fragments in Human Object Areas
Authors: Lerner Yulia , Epshtein Boris , Ullman Shimon , Malach Rafael 
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Object-related areas in the ventral visual system in humans are known from imaging studies to be preferentially activated by object images compared with noise or texture patterns. It is unknown, however, which features of the object images are extracted and represented in these areas. Here we tested the extent to which the representation of visual classes used object fragments selected by maximizing the information delivered about the class. We tested functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygenation level-dependent activation of highly informative object features in low- and high-level visual areas, compared with noninformative object features matched for low-level image properties. Activation in V1 was similar, but in the lateral occipital area and in the posterior fusiform gyrus, activation by “informative” fragments was significantly higher for three object classes. Behavioral studies also revealed high correlation between performance and fragments information. The results show that an objective class-information measure can predict classification performance and activation in human object-related areas.