bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D inadequacy amongst Lebanese osteoporotic women
Authors: Gannagé-Yared Marie-Hélène , Maalouf Ghassan , Khalife Simon , Challita Samir , Yaghi Yasser , Ziade Nelly , Chalfoun Amal , Norquist Josephine , Chandler Julie 
Published: July 2008

In Middle-Eastern countries, more particularly in Lebanon, the incidence of vitamin D deficiency has been found to be surprisingly high in schoolchildren and young individuals. However, the prevalence and risk factors for vitamin D inadequacy amongst Lebanese osteoporotic women seeking medical health care has never been studied. We analysed vitamin D-inadequacy risk factors among the 251 Lebanese postmenopausal osteoporotic women (from both Muslim and Christian communities) who participated in a vitamin D international epidemiological study. Vitamin D inadequacy prevalence (25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) < 30 ng/ml) was 84·9 %. 25(OH)D was negatively correlated with BMI (r − 0·41; P < 0·001) and positively correlated with educational level (r 0·37; P < 0·001) and self-reported general health (r 0·17; P < 0·01). No significant correlation was found with age and no seasonal variation was observed. There was no significant correlation between 25(OH)D and sun exposure index or vitamin D-rich food consumption. However, 25(OH)D strongly correlated with vitamin D supplement intake (r 0·48; P < 0·0001). Muslim community participants had lower 25(OH)D levels compared with their Christian counterparts (P < 0·001). They also had higher BMI, lower educational level and vitamin D supplement consumption and followed more frequently a dress code covering the arms (P < 0·0001 for all variables). In a multivariate model, in Muslims, inadequate vitamin D supplements and a dress code covering the arms are the independent predictors of 25(OH)D inadequacy (P < 0·001 for both variables). However, in Christians, the predictors are inadequate vitamin D supplements, high BMI and low educational level (P < 0·001; P = 0·002 and P = 0·02 respectively). There is an urgent need to increase vitamin D supplement use in Middle-Eastern osteoporotic women, more particularly in those from the Muslim community.
Predictors of 25-hydroxyvitamin D status among adults in two British national surveys
Authors: Hirani Vasant , Mosdøl Annhild , Mishra Gita 
Published: July 2008

Several recent reports have found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the adult British population. The present paper investigates the associations of low income/material deprivation and other predictors of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status in two surveys: The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of the population aged 19–64 years in mainland Britain and the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (LIDNS) of adults aged ≥ 19 years in all regions of the UK who were screened to identify low-income/materially deprived households. A valid serum 25(OH)D sample was obtained in 1297 and 792 participants from the NDNS and LDNS respectively. The NDNS participants who were not receiving benefits (n 1054) had a mean 25(OH)D of 50·1 nmol/l, which was higher than among NDNS participants receiving benefits (n 243) with a mean 25(OH)D of 43·0 nmol/l (P < 0·001) and the LIDNS sample (46·5 nmol/l; P < 0·05). For all three samples, the season of drawing blood, skin colour, dietary intake of vitamin D, and intake of dietary supplements were significant predictors (P < 0·05) of serum 25(OH)D status in mutually adjusted regression models. National prevention and treatments strategies of poor vitamin D status need to be targeted to include the adult population, particularly deprived populations, in addition to the elderly and ethnic minorities.
Enchanted Edens and Nation-Making: Juana Manso, Education, Women and Trans-American Encounters in Nineteenth-Century Argentina
Authors: PEARD JULYAN G. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThis article considers Juana Manso (1819–1875) as a crucial nation maker in nineteenth-century Argentina. Usually studied as a novelist, Manso was important beyond her literary production. As the first woman to be appointed to a government position and arguably the most radical feminist in nineteenth-century Argentina, Manso's story informs us about Argentine feminism and education, and illustrates how a woman, who lived in Uruguay, Brazil, United States and Cuba, became a crucial transmitter of ideas about emerging nations and a living example of the interconnectedness of the Americas.
Inequality, Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America
Authors: COATSWORTH JOHN H. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThis essay examines three recent historical approaches to the political economy of Latin America's relative economic backwardness. All three locate the origins of contemporary underdevelopment in defective colonial institutions linked to inequality. The contrasting view offered here affirms the significance of institutional constraints, but argues that they did not arise from colonial inequalities, but from the adaptation of Iberian practices to the American colonies under conditions of imperial weakness. Colonial inequality varied across the Americas; while it was not correlated with colonial economic performance, it mattered because it determined the extent of elite resistance to institutional modernisation after independence. The onset of economic growth in the mid to late nineteenth century brought economic elites to political power, but excluding majorities as inequality increased restrained the region's twentieth-century growth rates and prevented convergence.
Wild sheep and livestock in Nepal Trans-Himalaya: coexistence or competition?
Authors: SHRESTHA RINJAN , WEGGE PER 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYExcessive grazing by livestock is claimed to displace wild ungulates in the Trans-Himalaya. This study compares the seasonal diets and habitat use of sympatric wild naurPseudois nayaurand domestic goatCapra hircus, sheepOvis ariesand free-ranging yakBos grunniensin north Nepal and analyses their overlap both within and across seasons. Alpine meadow and the legumesOxytropisandChesneyawere critical resources for all animal groups. High overlap occurred cross-seasonally when smallstock (sheep and goats) in summer used the spring and autumn ranges of naur. Relatively high total ungulate biomass (3028 kg km−2) and low recruitment of naur (56 young per 100 adult females in autumn) suggested interspecific competition. The spatio-temporal heterogeneity in composition and phenology of food plants across the steep gradient of altitude, together with rotational grazing, appears to indirectly facilitate coexistence of naur and smallstock. However, owing to high cross-seasonal (inter-seasonal) overlaps, competition is likely to occur between these two groups at high stocking densities. Within seasons, naur overlapped more with free-ranging yak than with smallstock. As their habitat use and diets were most similar in winter, when both fed extensively on the same species of shrubs, naur was most likely to compete with yak during that season.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of a hypothetical hepatitis C vaccine compared to antiviral therapy
Authors: MASSAD E. , COUTINHO F. A. B. , CHAIB E. , BURATTINI M. N. 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYWe propose a mathematical model to simulate the dynamics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We assumed that a hypothetical vaccine, which cost was taken to be the initial cost of the vaccine against hepatitis B exists and it is introduced in the model. We computed its cost-effectiveness compared with the anti-HCV therapy. The calculated basic reproduction number was 1·20. The model predicts that without intervention a steady state exists with an HCV prevalence of 3%, in agreement with the current epidemiological data. Starting from this steady state three interventions were simulated: indiscriminate vaccination, selective vaccination and anti-HCV therapy. Selective vaccination proved to be the strategy with the best cost-effectiveness ratio, followed by indiscriminate vaccination and anti-HCV therapy.
Recognition of facial emotion in low vision: A flexible usage of facial features
Authors: BOUCART MURIEL , DINON JEAN-FRANÇOIS , DESPRETZ PASCAL , DESMETTRE THOMAS , HLADIUK KATRINE , OLIVA AUDE 
Published: July 2008

AbstractAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment in people older than 50 years in Western countries, affecting essential tasks such as reading and face recognition. Here we investigated the mechanisms underlying the deficit in recognition of facial expressions in an AMD population with low vision. Pictures of faces displaying different emotions with the mouth open or closed were centrally displayed for 300 ms. Participants with AMD with low acuity (mean 20/200) and normally sighted age-matched controls performed one of two emotion tasks: detecting whether a face had an expression or not (expressive/non expressive (EXNEX) task) or categorizing the facial emotion as happy, angry, or neutral (categorization of expression (CATEX) task). Previous research has shown that healthy observers are mainly using high spatial frequencies in an EXNEX task while performance at a CATEX task was preferentially based on low spatial frequencies. Due to impaired processing of high spatial frequencies in central vision, we expected and observed that AMD participants failed at deciding whether a face was expressive or not but categorized normally the emotion of the face (e.g., happy, angry, neutral). Moreover, we observed that AMD participants mostly identified emotions using the lower part of the face (mouth). Accuracy did not differ between the two tasks for normally sighted observers. The results indicate that AMD participants are able to identify facial emotion but must base their decision mainly on the low spatial frequencies, as they lack the perception of finer details.
Quorum sensing in Cyanobacteria: N-octanoyl-homoserine lactone release and response, by the epilithic colonial cyanobacterium Gloeothece PCC6909
Authors: Sharif Dilara I , Gallon John , Smith Chris J , Dudley Ed 
Published: July 2008

Abstract
Quorum sensing involving acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) is a density-dependent form of intercellular communication that occurs in many different members of the group Proteobacteria. However, to date, there have been few investigations of its occurrence in cyanobacteria. Here, using both a bioreporter Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4 (PZLR4) and mass spectrometry, we provide evidence of N-octanoyl homoserine lactone (C8-AHL) production in axenic cultures of the cyanobacterium Gloeothece PCC6909 and its sheathless mutant PCC6909/1. Accumulation of C8-AHL in the culture medium of laboratory cultures of Gloeothece followed a pattern characteristic of the phenomenon of autoinduction, a common feature of functional AHL-based quorum-sensing systems. Analysis by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed that, in response to treatment with C8-AHL, early growth-stage cells of PCC6909/1 showed changes in expression of 43 proteins compared with untreated cells. Among the 15 proteins that showed more than a twofold change in expression were RuBisCo, glutamate synthase, chorismate synthase, a member of the LysR family of transcriptional regulators (all upregulated), and enolase and aldolase, both of which were downregulated. The significance of such changes in response to C8-AHL is discussed in relation to carbohydrate and amino-acid metabolism and involvement of Gloeothece in biofilms.
Factors Affecting Prevalence of Overweight Among 12‐ to 17‐year‐old Urban Adolescents in Hyderabad, India
Authors: Laxmaiah Avula , Nagalla Balakrishna , Vijayaraghavan Kamasamudram , Nair Mohanan 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjective: The problem of overweight and obesity is not confined only to developed countries but is also widely prevalent in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity as defined by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) among school‐age children in Hyderabad, India, and identify its associated factors.Research Methods and Procedures: A cross‐sectional and institutional study, adopting a multistage stratified cluster sampling procedure, was carried out during 2003 on adolescents 12 to 17 years of age of both sexes from Hyderabad, India.Results: The overall prevalence of overweight was 6.1% [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.2, 8.0] among boys and 8.2% among girls (CI: 6.0, 10.4); 1.6% and 1.0% were obese, respectively. The prevalence was significantly higher (p < 0.05) among adolescents who watched television ≥3 h/d (10.4%) or belonged to a high socioeconomic background (14.9%, p < 0.001), whereas it was significantly lower among those participating regularly in outdoor games ≥6 h/wk (3.1%, p < 0.004) and household activities ≥3 h/d (4.7%, p < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis revealed that the prevalence of overweight was 4 times higher among the adolescents of high socioeconomic status [odds ratio (OR): 4.1; CI: 2.25, 7.52], 3 times higher in those not participating in outdoor games (OR: 2.75; CI: 1.56, 4.72), and 1.92 times higher in those watching television ≥3 h/d (OR: 1.92; CI: 1.16, 3.18).Discussion: This study confirmed the findings of earlier studies carried out in Western countries and emphasizes that regular physical exercise, doing household activities, regulated television viewing, and healthy eating behaviors could contribute to controlling overweight and obesity.
Reduced Adiposity in ob/ob Mice following Total Body Irradiation and Bone Marrow Transplantation
Authors: Ablamunits Vitaly , Weisberg Stuart P. , Lemieux Jacob E. , Combs Terry P. , Klebanov Simon 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjective: The objective of this study was to assess long‐term metabolic consequences of total body irradiation (TBI) and bone marrow transplantation. Severe obesity develops due to both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adipocytes. We hypothesized that TBI would arrest adipose tissue growth and would affect insulin resistance (IR).Research Methods and Procedures: We exposed 2‐month‐old female ob/ob mice to 8 Grays of TBI followed by bone marrow transplantation and tested the animals for body weight (BW) gain, body composition, blood glucose, and insulin sensitivity.Results: Two months after TBI, irradiated mice stopped gaining BW, whereas non‐treated mice continued to grow. At the age of 9.5 months, body mass of irradiated mice was 60.6 ± 1.4 grams, which was only 61% of that in non‐treated ob/ob controls (99.4 ± 1.6 grams). Body composition measurements by DXA showed that decreased BW was primarily due to an impaired fat accumulation. This could not result from the production of leptin by bone marrow‐derived adipocyte progenitors because inhibition of the obese phenotype was identical in recipients of both B6 and ob/ob bone marrow. Inability of the irradiated mice to accumulate fat was associated with hepatomegaly, lower levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 expression in adipose tissue, and increased IR.Discussion: Our data argue in favor of the hypothesis that inability of adipose tissue to expand may increase IR. This mouse model may be valuable for studies of late‐onset radiation‐induced IR in humans.
Weight Loss and Health Outcomes in African Americans and Whites After Gastric Bypass Surgery
Authors: Anderson Wendy A. , Greene Geoffrey W. , Forse R. Armour , Apovian Caroline M. , Istfan Nawfal W. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjective: The objective was to describe differences in weight loss, dietary intake, and cardiovascular risk factors between white and African‐American patients after gastric bypass (GBP).Research Methods and Procedures: This was a retrospective database review of a sample of 84 adult patients (24 African‐American and 60 white women and men) between the ages of 33 and 53 years. All subjects had GBP surgery in 2001 at the Bariatric Surgery Program at Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA, and were followed for one year postoperatively. Patients were excluded if weight data were missing at baseline, 3 months, or 1 year after GBP. A total of 9 African Americans and 41 whites provided data at all 3 time‐points and were included in the study. Differences in weight loss, diet, and cardiovascular risk factors were analyzed.Results: There were no differences in baseline characteristics between African Americans and whites. Mean weight loss for the entire sample was 36 ± 9%, with a range of 8% to 54% relative to initial body weight. Whites lost more weight (39 ± 8%) than African Americans (26 ± 10%) (p < 0.05). Dietary parameters, as well as improvements in blood pressure and lipid profiles, were similar in the two racial groups.Discussion: Differences in weight loss between severely obese African Americans and whites undergoing open GBP are unlikely to be related to postoperative dietary practices. Our data are consistent with previous reports implicating metabolic differences between the two racial groups.
Sibutramine Plus Meal Replacement Therapy for Body Weight Loss and Maintenance in Obese Patients
Authors: Early James L. , Apovian Caroline M. , Aronne Louis J. , Fernstrom Madelyn H. , Frank Arthur , Greenway Frank L. , Heber David , Kushner Robert F. , Cwik Kristine M. , Walch Julia K. , Hewkin Ann C. , Blakesley Vicky 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjective: Our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of sibutramine with a low‐calorie diet (LCD) and commercial meal‐replacement product in achieving weight loss and weight‐loss maintenance in obese patients.Research Methods and Procedures: Eight U.S. centers recruited 148 obese patients for a 3‐month comprehensive weight‐loss therapy (Phase I) comprising daily sibutramine 10 mg + LCD (two Slim‐Fast meal‐replacement shakes, one low‐calorie meal; total kcal/d = 1200–1500). Patients (N = 113) who lost ≥5% of initial body weight during Phase I were randomized for a 9‐month period (Phase II) to daily sibutramine 15 mg + LCD (one meal‐replacement shake; two low‐calorie meals: total kcal/d ∼1200–1500) or daily placebo + three low‐calorie meals (total kcal/d ∼1200–1500). Both phases included behavior modification. Efficacy was assessed by body weight change during each phase and by the number of patients at endpoint maintaining ≥80% of the weight they had lost by the end of Phase I. Other outcomes included changes in cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, adverse events, and vital signs.Results: Mean body weight change during Phase I was −8.3 kg (p < 0.001). Patients randomized to sibutramine in Phase II had an additional −2.5 kg mean weight loss vs. a 2.8‐kg increase in the placebo group (p < 0.001). More sibutramine patients maintained ≥80% of their Phase I weight loss at the end of Phase II (85.5% vs. placebo 36.7%, p < 0.001). Most adverse events were mild or moderate in severity, and all serious adverse events were unrelated to sibutramine.Discussion: Sibutramine plus LCD with meal replacements and behavior modification is a safe and effective strategy for achieving and sustaining weight loss in obese patients.
A Green Tea Extract High in Catechins Reduces Body Fat and Cardiovascular Risks in Humans
Authors: Nagao Tomonori , Hase Tadashi , Tokimitsu Ichiro 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjective: The body fat reducing effect and reduction of risks for cardiovascular disease by a green tea extract (GTE) high in catechins was investigated in humans with typical lifestyles.Research Methods and Procedures: Japanese women and men with visceral fat‐type obesity were recruited for the trial. After a 2‐week diet run‐in period, a 12‐week double‐blind parallel multicenter trial was performed, in which the subjects ingested green tea containing 583 mg of catechins (catechin group) or 96 mg of catechins (control group) per day. Randomization was stratified by gender and body mass index at each medical institution. The subjects were instructed to maintain their usual dietary intake and normal physical activity.Results: Data were analyzed using per‐protocol samples of 240 subjects (catechin group; n = 123, control group; n = 117). Decreases in body weight, body mass index, body fat ratio, body fat mass, waist circumference, hip circumference, visceral fat area, and subcutaneous fat area were found to be greater in the catechin group than in the control group. A greater decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was found in the catechin group compared with the control group for subjects whose initial SBP was 130 mm Hg or higher. Low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was also decreased to a greater extent in the catechin group. No adverse effect was found.Discussion: The continuous ingestion of a GTE high in catechins led to a reduction in body fat, SBP, and LDL cholesterol, suggesting that the ingestion of such an extract contributes to a decrease in obesity and cardiovascular disease risks.
Exercise Effect on Weight and Body Fat in Men and Women
Authors: McTiernan Anne , Sorensen Bess , Irwin Melinda L. , Morgan Angela , Yasui Yutaka , Rudolph Rebecca E. , Surawicz Christina , Lampe Johanna W. , Lampe Paul D. , Ayub Kamran , Potter John D. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjectives: The effect of national exercise recommendations on adiposity is unknown and may differ by sex. We examined long‐term effects of aerobic exercise on adiposity in women and men.Research Methods and Procedures: This was a 12‐month randomized, controlled clinical trial testing exercise effect on weight and body composition in men (N = 102) and women (N = 100). Sedentary/unfit persons, 40 to 75 years old, were recruited through physician practices and media. The intervention was facility‐ and home‐based moderate‐to‐vigorous intensity aerobic activity, 60 min/d, 6 days/wk vs. controls (no intervention).Results: Exercisers exercised a mean 370 min/wk (men) and 295 min/wk (women), and seven dropped the intervention. Exercisers lost weight (women, −1.4 vs. +0.7 kg in controls, p = 0.008; men, −1.8 vs. −0.1 kg in controls, p = 0.03), BMI (women, −0.6 vs. +0.3 kg/m2 in controls, p = 0.006; men, −0.5 kg/m2 vs. no change in controls, p = 0.03), waist circumference (women, −1.4 vs. +2.2 cm in controls, p < 0.001; men, −3.3 vs. −0.4 cm in controls, p = 0.003), and total fat mass (women, −1.9 vs. +0.2 kg in controls, p = 0.001; men, −3.0 vs. +0.2 kg in controls, p < 0.001). Exercisers with greater increases in pedometer‐measured steps per day had greater decreases in weight, BMI, body fat, and intra‐abdominal fat (all p trend < 0.05 in both men and women). Similar trends were observed for increased minutes per day of exercise and for increases in maximal oxygen consumption.Discussion: These data support the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Institute of Medicine guidelines of 60 min/d of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity.