bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND BENEFIT SHARING
Authors: ALVAREZ‐CASTILLO FATIMA , FEINHOLZ DAFNA 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to show that any process of benefit sharing that does not guarantee the representation and participation of women in the decision‐making process, as well as in the distribution of benefits, contravenes a central demand of social justice. It is argued that women, particularly in developing countries, can be excluded from benefits derived from genetic research because of existing social structures that promote and maintain discrimination. The paper describes how the structural problem of gender‐based inequity can impact on benefit sharing processes. At the same time, examples are given of poor women’s ability to organise themselves and to achieve social benefits for entire communities. Relevant international guidelines (e.g. the Convention on Biodiversity) recognise the importance of women’s contributions to the protection of biodiversity and thereby, implicitly, their right to a share of the benefits, but no mechanism is outlined on how to bring this about. The authors make a clear recommendation to ensure women’s participation in benefit sharing negotiations by demanding seats at the negotiation table.
A Decade of Christian Democratic Decline: The Dilemmas of the CDU, ÖVP and CDA in the 1990s
Authors: Duncan Fraser 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThis article explores Christian Democratic electoral decline in the 1990s through an examination of the key problems faced by the CDU, the ÖVP and the CDA. Although the problems of Christian Democracy in this period are identified as arising from exogenous changes, the article goes beyond a mechanistic approach by also scrutinizing the response of the various parties. It is argued that the contraction of core support bases, intensified party competition and the rise of problematic issues created a series of dilemmas for the parties but also that the unconvincing reaction of the parties contributed to their electoral predicament.
Identity Politics and the Domestic Context of Turkey's European Union Accession
Authors: Polat Necati 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThis article observes a transformation in the largely essentializing, decontextualized form of identity politics that long defined political cosmology in Turkey, now in the process of negotiating accession to the European Union (EU). Accordingly, identity politics – not only the bread and butter of both Kurdish nationalism and Islamism, but also a justification for exhortations towards a limited, authoritarian democracy by Kemalists, the major power holders – is receding in favour of a civic, non-divisive political culture enabled by the EU anchorage. In danger of losing the longstanding centre–periphery configuration in an enhanced, participatory democracy and, concomitant with it, the periphery clientelism created by the waning identity politics, Kemalist nationalists, Islamists and Kurdish separatists appear to have stopped squabbling among themselves and joined forces against Turkey's EU bid.
More Than a Market? The Regulation of Sport in the European Union
Authors: Dimitrakopoulos Dionyssis G. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThe explanatory capacity of ideas has been contested on two grounds. First, ideas have been dismissed as epiphenomenal. Second, ideational explanations have been criticized for the limited importance that they ascribe to agency. This article examines the involvement of the European Commission in previously uncharted territory, namely the regulation of professional sport in Europe. It demonstrates that, in conditions of ambiguity and uncertainty created by the need to implement broad Treaty-based principles in new areas of socio-economic activity, ideas, first, act as road maps that direct the executive activity of the European Commission, legitimize it, and set limits to it by identifying the relevant deeply embedded conceptions of the nature of a given activity and by linking them to a wider, historically defined normative order. Second, ideas are also powerful political weapons used by political actors in their quest to advance their interests.
Zinc is a negative regulator of hepatitis C virus RNA replication
Authors: Yuasa Kazuhisa , Naganuma Atsushi , Sato Ken , Ikeda Masanori , Kato Nobuyuki , Takagi Hitoshi , Mori Masatomo 
Published: September 2006

Abstract: Background/Aims:Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global public health problem. In clinical studies, zinc has been closely related to the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C. However, the role of zinc in both viral replication and the expression of viral proteins remains unclear. We aimed to clarify the effect of zinc on the replication of HCVin vitro.Methods:We incubated subgenomic HCV replicon cells (sO) and genome‐length HCV RNA‐replicating cells (O) treated with several chemicals including trace elements. Total RNAs were collected and subjected to real‐time reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in order to examine the level of HCV RNA replication, and Western blotting was performed to confirm the expression of viral proteins.Results:Iron salts and interferon‐α suppressed HCV RNA replication and protein expression in both sO and O cells. Zinc salts effectively reduced the viral replication in the genome‐length HCV RNA replication system but not in the subgenomic HCV replicon system.Conclusions:We demonstrated that zinc may play an important role as a negative regulator of HCV replication in genome‐length HCV RNA‐replicating cells. Zinc supplementation thus appears to offer a novel approach to the development of future strategies for the treatment of intractable chronic hepatitis C.
Noninvasive tests for the prediction of significant hepatic fibrosis in hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal alanine aminotransferases
Authors: Liu Chen‐Hua , Lin Jou‐Wei , Tsai Feng‐Chiao , Yang Pei‐Ming , Lai Ming‐Yang , Chen Jun‐Herng , Kao Jia‐Horng , Chen Ding‐Shinn 
Published: September 2006

Abstract: Background: The diagnostic value of Doppler and various noninvasive indices in predicting significant hepatic fibrosis in hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers with persistently normal alanine aminotransferases (PNALT) is unknown.Methods: Seventy‐nine treatment‐naïve HCV carriers with PNALT, who received Doppler ultrasonography and percutaneous liver biopsies, were enrolled in the study. Doppler indices, including portal vein velocity (PVV), hepatic arterial resistive index (HARI), hepatic arterial pulsatility index (HAPI), splenic arterial resistive index (SARI), and splenic arterial pulsatility index (SAPI), were compared with known biochemical indices used in HCV carriers with elevated ALT levels, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI), age‐platelet index (API), and AST to ALT ratio (AAR), for the diagnostic accuracy of significant hepatic fibrosis.Results: SAPI was the most discriminatory index among the Doppler indices (P<0.001). By comparing areas under the receiver‐operating characteristic (AUROC) of SAPI with various biochemical indices, SAPI was superior to APRI, API, and AAR for predicting significant fibrosis (≥F2) (0.862 vs. 0.673, 0.639, 0.504). SAPI set at 0.85 and 1.10 had a sensitivity of 96.7% and 66.7%, a specificity of 44.6% and 96.0%, a positive predictive value of 41.4% and 87.1%, and an negative predictive value of 97% and 87.7% in predicting significant fibrosis.Conclusions: This study indicates that SAPI is the most useful index among Doppler and biochemical indices for the detection of significant hepatic fibrosis in HCV carriers with PNALT levels.
Differential expression of toll‐like receptor mRNA in treatment non‐responders and sustained virologic responders at baseline in patients with chronic hepatitis C
Authors: He Qi , Graham Camilla S. , Mangoni Emanuele Durante , Koziel Margaret James 
Published: September 2006

Abstract: Background/Aims: The contribution of the host immune response to sustained virologic response is not clear in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of the toll‐like receptor (TLR) expression with the outcome of antiviral therapy in hepatitis C viral infection.Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained from 15 CHC patients before a 48‐week treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG IFN) α‐2a and ribavirin. A multiplex semi‐quantitative reverse‐trancriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was used to compare the relative abundance of TLR2–9 transcripts.Results: mRNA levels of TLR2, 3 and 6 were significantly higher in CHC subjects compared with normal controls (n=8). When patients were classified into non‐responders (n=8) and sustained virological responders (n=7) according to the virological outcome of the treatment, there was a clear difference in baseline mRNA expression of TLRs and T‐helper (Th) 1/2 cytokines. In addition, the mRNA expression of IFN‐γ and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), which is exclusively expressed in activated T cells, was inversely correlated with that of TLR4, 6 and 9 in non‐responders.Conclusions: TLRs mRNA levels are differentially expressed in baseline PBMC of chronic HCV‐infected subjects with or without responsiveness to antiviral therapy.
Spatial Distribution of Head Pain as a Factor in Migraine Experience
Authors: Campbell J. F. , Brisebois Mitch A. , Hughes Nicole M. G. 
Published: September 2006

SYNOPSISBy means of a life‐size three‐dimensional head model, 12 subjects reporting the symptoms of classic migraine described the spatial distribution of pain at its most intense. A correlational analysis indicated that a decrease in the surface area of pain was related to an increase in the salience of such symptoms as bilateral pain onset, the spread of pain to include the whole head, increased olfactory sensitivity, excessive sweating, and teeth or jaw aches, in the subjects' experience of headache. Concurrently, subjects reporting the smaller areas tended to describe the pain as “sharp” and “piercing”, while those reporting larger areas tended to describe the pain as “pounding” and “heavy”.
Hypothesis: Chronic Benign Daily Headache is an Immune Disorder with a Viral Trigger
Authors: Vanast W.J. , Diaz‐Mitoma F. , Tyrrell D.L.J. 
Published: September 2006

SYNOPSISThe persistence and reactivation of classic viruses may be responsible for some chronic headache syndromes and their exacerbations. Persistent infections may selectively decrease neurotransmitter output. Alternatively, headache may be due to the viral‐induced immune response. Lymphocytes secrete substances with CNS activity. Continuous antigenic stimulation may result in immune complexes, anti‐idiotype antibodies, and autoimmunity. Our studies show an increased incidence of raised thyroid microsomal antibodies in patients with chronic benign daily headache or benign paroxysmal vertigo (a syndrome closely related to idiopathic headache syndrome). We detected oropharyngeal secretion of Epstein‐Barr Virus by nucleic acid hybridization in 20 of 32 patients with the recently‐defined syndrome of new, daily persistent headache and in only 4 of 32 age and sex‐matched control patients. Based on these studies, we propose that chronic benign daily headache may be an auto‐immune disorder with a persistent viral trigger.
What Can Precipitating Factors Teach us About the Pathogenesis of Migraine?
Authors: Amery Willem K. , Vandenbergh Vic 
Published: September 2006

SYNOPSISRelationships between precipitating factors in the pathogenesis of migraine were studied in a sample of 217 migraineurs. The most frequently cited triggers were the menstrual cycle (51.5% of the women), alcoholic beverages (51.6%) and emotional or psychic stress (48.8%). Analysis of 4 subgroups of patients, i.e. those with only one of these 3 triggers or with none of these (controls), showed that alcohol‐susceptible patients reported significantly (p<0.001) more alimentary triggers than the controls. A similar phenomenon was found in patients with menstrual‐cycle related migraine, but in this group the difference with the controls fell short of reaching statistical significance. A further analysis showed that menstrual migraine attacks are more frequently preceded by depressive symptoms than other migraine attacks.It is suggested that the gut of certain migraineurs may be unduly permeable, either intrinsically or extrinsically (e.g. under the influence of alcohol). In addition, in some patients with menstrual migraine, a depressive episode, associated with the menstrual period, may facilitate the development of a migraine attack.
Chronic Cluster Headache: A Review of 60 Patients
Authors: Peter C. , Watson N. , Evans Ramon J. 
Published: September 2006

SYNOPSISThis article reports the clinical features and results of treatment of 60 patients with chronic cluster headache (CCH) with data on extended follow‐up of 46 patients (median 4 years). Treatment was generally difficult and often "trial and error" in nature. Lithium carbonate, methysergide, corticosteroids and indomethacin were of some limited usefulness as prophylactic agents. Symptomatic therapy by a variety of agents was evaluated but commonly, daily usage resulted in side effects and excessive dosage. Longterm follow‐up revealed that 59% of patients were either free of headache (33%) or categorized as satisfactory by patient and examiner (26%). Fourteen (52%) of these had undergone a surgical procedure.
Factors associated with parameters of engraftment potential of umbilical cord blood
Authors: George Thomas J. , Sugrue Michele W. , George Sarah N. , Wingard John R. 
Published: September 2006

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an acceptable source of hematopoietic cells for transplantation with success being associated with the nucleated cell count (NCC), CD34+ cells, and colony‐forming unit–granulocyte‐macrophage (CFU‐GM) content infused. A total of 1033 UCB samples with neonatal and paternal characteristics that might influence hematopoietic content were examined.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: UCB samples were screened, processed, and reevaluated for the above cell counts. These parameters of engraftment potential were analyzed for associations with neonatal and parental characteristics.RESULTS: Postprocessed NCCs (median, 6.53 × 108± 2.80 × 108 SD; mean 7.30 × 108), CD34+ counts (median, 2.02 × 106 ± 2.20 × 106 SD; mean, 2.65 × 106; r = 0.66; p < 0.001), and CFU‐GM content (median, 2.65 × 105 ± 3.16 × 105 SD; mean, 3.54 × 105; r = 0.61; p < 0.001) all were strongly interrelated. Both initial volume (median, 77.5 ± 26.2 mL SD; mean, 81.9 mL) and initial NCC (median, 9.75 × 108 ± 4.88 × 108 SD; mean, 10.9 × 108) correlated well with postprocessed NCC (r = 0.60; r = 0.90; p < 0.01), CD34+ count (r = 0.40; r = 0.63; p < 0.01), and CFU‐GM content (r = 0.38; r = 0.59; p < 0.01), with a stronger relationship seen with initial NCC. Infant birth weight (specifically, >3000 g), but not sex, gestational age, or cytomegalovirus status correlated strongly with collection volume and UCB cell counts. Units from minority volunteers contained relatively smaller volumes and hematopoietic content.CONCLUSION: UCB banks should emphasize selecting the heaviest infants and processing large‐volume units with high NCCs to optimize hematopoietic potential. Minority recruitment should be encouraged with consideration given to inherent racial differences in cell counts. There does not appear to be a significant relationship between other neonatal and parental characteristics and that of engraftment potential.
An association of soluble CD40 ligand (CD154) with adverse reactions to platelet transfusions
Authors: Blumberg Neil , Gettings Kelly F. , Turner Chantal , Heal Joanna M. , Phipps Richard P. 
Published: September 2006

BACKGROUND: Removal of stored supernatant abrogates most transfusion reactions to leukoreduced platelets (PLTs), suggesting that PLT‐derived soluble mediators are involved. PLTs are the primary source of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L). Engagement of the receptor for CD40L induces synthesis of proinflammatory mediators including interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐8, and monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1).STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Supernatants from poststorage leukoreduced PLT concentrates were assayed for white cell– (IL‐6, IL‐8, MCP‐1) and PLT‐derived (sCD40L, RANTES) inflammatory mediators. These levels were correlated with clinical outcomes.RESULTS: Of 534 transfusions, there were 12 reported (2.2%) and 2 unreported reactions (0.4%)—10 febrile and 4 allergic. Transfusions with reactions had significantly higher levels of IL‐6 (2.3‐fold higher; p = 0.005), IL‐8 (2.2‐fold higher; p = 0.001), MCP‐1 (2.6‐fold higher; p = 0.002), and sCD40L (1.24‐fold higher; p = 0.015), but not RANTES. (1.14‐fold higher; p = 0.22). The vast majority (>93%) of patients transfused with mediator levels in the highest quintile had no reactions. When levels of all five mediators were summed, the reaction rates in the first through fifth quintiles increased from 1 to 7 percent (p = 0.027). All but one reaction occurred in patients with hematologic malignancies (13 reactions/380 transfusions; 3.4%; p = 0.04 vs. other diagnoses).CONCLUSIONS: These are the first data demonstrating that a PLT‐derived mediator, sCD40L, is associated with adverse transfusion events. Existing clinical factors, for example, inflammation or leukopenia, may influence whether infused mediators cause reactions.
Effects of a new perfluorocarbon emulsion on human plasma and whole‐blood viscosity in the presence of albumin, hydroxyethyl starch, or modified fluid gelatin: an in vitro rheologic approach
Authors: Jouan‐Hureaux Valérie , Audonnet‐Blaise Sandra , Lacatusu Diana , Krafft Marie‐Pierre , Dewachter Pascale , Cauchois Ghislaine , Stoltz Jean‐François , Longrois Dan , Menu Patrick 
Published: September 2006

BACKGROUND: Artificial oxygen carriers such as perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions have reached Phase III clinical trials as alternatives to homologous blood, but their rheologic effects have not been characterized. In this study, the rheologic effects of PFC emulsion in the presence of clinically used volume expanders were investigated.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The effects of a new PFC emulsion (small droplet size with narrow size distribution) at two PFC concentrations (4 and 8 g/dL) on plasma and whole‐blood viscosity in the presence of human albumin solution (HAS), hydroxyethyl starch (HES), or modified fluid gelatin (MFG) were investigated. Three hematocrit (Hct) levels were investigated: 30, 20, and 13 percent. Plasma, PFC emulsions, and whole‐blood viscosity, with a Couette viscometer, and RBC elongation, with an ektacytometer, were measured for shear rates of 0.2 to 128 per second.RESULTS: The two PFC concentrations increased plasma and whole‐blood viscosities. Viscosity values similar to physiologic ones (Hct level, 40%) were observed at: 1) Hct level of 13 percent, with 4 or 8 g per dL MFG‐PFC; 2) Hct level of 20 percent, with 4 g per dL MFG‐PFC; and 3) Hct level of 30 percent, with 4 g per dL HES‐PFC and 4 and 8 g per dL HAS‐PFC. RBC deformability was unchanged.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that this new PFC emulsion increases plasma and blood viscosity and that among the three studied volume expanders, the interaction with MFG can result in viscosity values above the physiologic one even at low Hct values. The possible consequences of the increased viscosity at low Hct values are discussed.
Integration of Cardiac CT/MR Imaging with Three‐Dimensional Electroanatomical Mapping to Guide Catheter Manipulation in the Left Atrium: Implications for Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: MALCHANO ZACHARY J. , NEUZIL PETR , CURY RICARDO C. , HOLMVANG GODTFRED , WEICHET JIRI , SCHMIDT EHUD J. , RUSKIN JEREMY N. , REDDY VIVEK Y. 
Published: September 2006

Introduction: Preprocedural cardiac imaging (CT/MRI) and intraprocedural electroanatomical mapping (EAM) are commonly used during left atrial (LA) catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). In the optimal scenario, the imaging datasets would be directly integrated with the EAM system to guide catheter mapping based on the accurate individual cardiac anatomy. Methods and Results: Strategies to align the EAM and imaging data were assessed by simulations using a life‐size model of the LA and aorta. This revealed that the optimal strategy includes mapping both the aorta and LA. Respiratory changes in cardiac anatomy were evaluated by MR angiography performed in 10 patients during both inspiration and expiration. Comparison of paired images revealed inferior and anterior movement of the LA relative to the aorta with inspiration. Next, image integration was employed in a series of patients (n = 13) scheduled for AF catheter ablation. After preprocedural CT angiography (7 during inspiration and 6 during expiration), three‐dimensional anatomical renderings of these images were integrated with the EAM data in a custom workstation to permit real‐time catheter manipulation within these constructs. The electrophysiologist was blinded to these integrated images, but the accuracy of the process was assessed real‐time by a second operator. This revealed poor alignment during inspiration but good alignment during expiration—the respiratory phase most closely resembling that during EAM. Conclusions: This study supports the feasibility of integrating preacquired cardiac images with real‐time electroanatomical mapping to guide catheter movement in the LA in a reliable and clinically relevant manner.
QT Interval Correction in Patients with Cirrhosis
Authors: ZAMBRUNI ANDREA , DI MICOLI ANTONIO , LUBISCO ALESSANDRO , DOMENICALI MARCO , TREVISANI FRANCO , BERNARDI MAURO 
Published: September 2006

Introduction: QT interval prolongation is a common electrophysiological abnormality in patients with cirrhosis. As QT interval varies with the heart rate, many QT correction formulas have been proposed, the Bazett's one being the most criticized because it overcorrects the QT interval and may be misleading. This study focused on the QT‐RR relationship in patients with cirrhosis to derive a population‐specific QT correction formula. Methods: One hundred cirrhotic patients of different etiology and severity and 53 healthy controls comparable for age and sex were enrolled. The QT‐RR relationship was analyzed in patients by five regression analysis models to derive the population‐specific QT‐RR equation. The QTc was calculated and compared with those calculated by four common QT correction formulas (Bazett, Fridericia, Framingham, and Hodges). The correlation coefficient QTc‐RR was calculated as a measure of the independence of QTc from the original RR interval. Results: In patients the QT‐RR relationship was best described by the power equation “QT = 453.65 × RR1/3.02” (R2= 0.41), similar to the Fridericia's formula. Bazett's formula led to the longest QTc (P < 0.0001), which was still significantly influenced by the RR interval (R =−0.39; P < 0.0001), while the estimated equation led to a QTc value not influenced by RR (R =−0.014). Conclusion: Bazett's correction should be avoided in patients with cirrhosis because it still provides a rate‐dependent QTc value and might be misleading, particularly when assessing the overall preoperative cardiac risk and the effect of drugs affecting the QT interval. In its place, our formula or that of Fridericia can be confidently employed.