bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Left ventricular volume and function in cynomolgus monkeys using real‐time three‐dimensional echocardiography
Authors: Tsusaki Hideshi , Yonamine Haruno , Tamai Asako , Shimomoto Mutsuko , Kuwano Koichi , Iwao Hiroshi , Nagata Ryoichi , Kito Go 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackground  The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of evaluating cardiac function by real time three‐dimensional (RT3D) echocardiography in isoflurane‐anesthetized male cynomolgus monkeys. Additionally differences between inhibitory effects of β‐blockers and a Ca channel blocker on left ventricular (LV) function were examined.Methods and Results  End‐diastolic volume (EDV), end‐systolic volume (ESV) and ejection fraction (EF) in the control (without any drug effect) were not significantly changed by repetitive measurement at a 30‐day interval. Propranolol and metoprolol (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg/10 minutes, i.v.) caused a dose‐dependent increase in ESV, but little effect on EDV, resulting in a decrease in EF. Verapamil (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg/10 minutes, i.v.) increased both EDV and ESV, but decreased EF was noted at 0.3 mg/kg.Conclusions  These results demonstrate the feasibility of RT3D echocardiography in providing reproducible estimations of LV volume and EF in monkeys when evaluating drugs that may affect cardiac function.
Freeze‐dried platelet‐rich plasma shows beneficial healing properties in chronic wounds
Authors: Pietramaggiori Giorgio , Kaipainen Arja , Czeczuga Joshua M. , Wagner Christopher T. , Orgill Dennis P. 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTFresh platelet concentrates are used in many centers to treat recalcitrant wounds. To extend the therapeutic shelf‐life of platelets, we analyzed the wound‐healing effects of fresh‐frozen and freeze‐dried (FD) platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) using a diabetic mouse model. Db/db mice with 1.0 cm2 dorsal excisional wounds (n=15/group) were treated with a single application of FD PRP (1.2 × 106 platelets/μL) with or without a stabilization solution, and compared with wounds treated with fresh‐frozen, sonicated PRP, and untreated wounds. Granulation tissue area, thickness, and wound size were analyzed 9 days posttreatment. Immunostained sections were quantified for vascularity and proliferation using antiplatelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule I and antiproliferating cell nuclear antigen antibodies. The results showed that all PRP preparations increased granulation tissue formation as assessed by surface coverage, thickness, and angiogenic response, when compared with untreated wounds. In addition, wounds treated with FD PRP, and biochemically stabilized FD PRP, exhibited higher proliferative levels. The possibility to deliver growth factors using platelets, and the potential to extend the shelf‐life of platelet concentrates makes freeze‐drying methods particularly suitable for enhanced wound care.
SBD.4 stimulates regenerative processes in vitro, and wound healing in genetically diabetic mice and in human skin/severe‐combined immunodeficiency mouse chimera
Authors: Zhao Hui , Mortezaei Reza , Wang Yanrong , Sheng Xinsheng , Aria Fariba , Bojanowski Krzysztof 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTIn search of novel angiostimulators, we performed a high‐throughput screening of medicinal plants beneficial for blood circulation. From the panel of positive hits, Angelica sinensis was selected for further investigation. Purified down to a low‐molecular‐weight fraction and characterized by high‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, the material, named SBD.4A, revealed a particularly strong wound healing activity in the diabetic mouse wound‐healing model, and in the human/severe combined immunodeficiency mouse chimera wound‐healing model. In both models, SBD.4A compared favorably with the Food and Drug Administration‐approved wound‐healing drug becaplermin, suggesting that this botanical product could be a valuable treatment for difficult‐to‐heal wounds. Further high‐performance liquid chromatography fractionation of SBD.4A yielded a hydrophilic fraction, which strongly stimulated endothelial cell proliferation, tridimensional endothelial cell network formation, as well as the proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts and type I collagen secretion. Because angiogenesis and fibroblast proliferation are essential for wound healing, we propose that this liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry‐defined hydrophilic fraction is at least partially responsible for the wound‐healing activity of SBD.4A.
Crafting a New Alliance with the Muslim World
Authors: Noman Omar 
Published: September 2006

Most Muslims now live in democracies—a fact that is rarely acknowledged. The Muslim world has also elected five women heads of state in the past decade. These two indicators are symbolic of the diversity within the Muslim world, and also of the direction in which that world is headed.Few Muslims wish to be classified in a category that would prevent them from participating in the benefits of modernity. The pull of mass education, commerce, trade, and engagement with the world is strong. But these possibilities are openings that radical Islam is attempting to close off, which has led to an ideological civil war within Islam. In country after country, the middle class, the elite, and most of the poor are frightened by an austere version of theocratic Islam that has managed to gain political leverage. In order to sustain modern governments and access to the world in which they want to be active contributors, Muslims need an alliance with the West—not a confrontation.
Access to Medicines and the Rhetoric of Responsibility
Authors: Barry Christian , Raworth Kate 
Published: September 2006

There is no cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS. The only life-prolonging treatment available is antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. WHO estimates, however, that less than 5 percent of those who require treatment in developing countries currently enjoy access to these medicines. In Africa fewer than 50,000 people–less than 2 percent of the people in need–currently receive ARV therapy. These facts have elicited strongly divergent reactions, and views about the appropriate response to this crisis have varied widely.The intensity of the debate concerning access to life-prolonging medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, and the heated rhetoric with which they are often conducted, suggest that these disagreements may be rooted in deeper disagreements of value. It is not obvious, however, what disagreements of value are at stake in this debate. By analyzing the statements of scholars, public officials, activist organizations, and private sector representatives, each of whom may endorse very different policy recommendations on access to HIV/AIDS drugs, we have identified and created a typology of the different sources of disagreement in the debate. We conclude that the central disagreements concerning access to medicines arise from competing understandings of how responsibilities for bringing remedy to hardships should be allocated to different agents and institutions. A central lesson that emerges from our analysis is that thinking about “health equity” must extend beyond the explanation and justification of goals, values, and ideals, and engage more honestly with the difficult question of how responsibilities for bringing remedy to health crises should be allocated in complex social contexts.
Responsibilities for Poverty-Related Ill Health
Authors: Pogge Thomas W. 
Published: September 2006

In a democratic society, the social rules are imposed by all upon each. As “recipients” of the rules, we tend to think that they should be designed to engender the best attainable distribution of goods and ills or quality of life. We are inclined to assess social institutions by how they affect their participants. But there is another, oft-neglected perspective which the topic of health equity raises with special clarity: As imposers of the rules, we are inclined to think that harms we inflict through the rules have greater moral weight than like harms we merely fail to prevent or to mitigate. What matters morally is not merely how we affect people, but how we treat them through the rules we impose. While current (consequentialist and Rawlsian) theorizing is dominated by the first perspective and thus supports purely recipient-oriented moral conceptions, an adequate approach to social justice requires a balancing of both. Such balancing results in a relational conception of justice, which distinguishes various ways in which an institutional scheme may causally affect the quality of life of its participants.This essay argues that the strength of our moral reason to prevent or mitigate particular medical conditions depends not only on what one might call distributional factors, such as how badly off the people affected by these conditions are in absolute and relative terms, how costly prevention or treatment would be, and how much patients would benefit from given treatment. Rather, it depends also on relational factors, that is, on how we are related to the medical conditions they suffer. It then discusses some implications of this view for understanding responsibilities for international health outcomes.
Any Name Illegal and Immoral
Authors: Stein Yael 
Published: September 2006

Since November 2000, Israel has been implementing an assassination policy in the occupied territories. The Israeli policy is both illegal and immoral. The legal questions are much more complicated than would appear from David's argument. Although individual killings may be lawful in specific cases, this debate concerns a policy providing systematic justification for such acts. Neither international nor Israeli law ensures any backing for this policy. Armed Palestinians are not combatants according to any known legal definition. They are civilians–which is the only legal alternative–and can only be attacked for as long as they actively participate in hostilities.The argument that this policy affords the public a sense of revenge and retribution could serve to justify acts both illegal and immoral. Clearly, lawbreakers ought to be punished. Yet, no matter how horrific their deeds, as the targeting of Israeli civilians indeed is, they should be punished according to the law. David's arguments could, in principle, justify the abolition of formal legal systems altogether.The Israeli government has not endorsed the minor changes of policy that David suggests, and for a reason. Israel's initial refusal to acknowledge the very existence of this policy and even its later hesitant admission suggest it is aware of the problems the policy entails and of the difficulties of dismissing them. Assassinations have been part of Israel's security policy for many years, and Israel is currently the only democratic country that regards such measures as legitimate. The Palestinian violations of international law, however, cannot be used to grant legal and/or moral legitimation to these violations when perpetrated by others.
Impact of Inactive Empiric Antimicrobial Therapy on Inpatient Mortality and Length of Stay
Authors: Scarsi Kimberly K. , Feinglass Joe M. , Scheetz Marc H. , Postelnick Michael J. , Bolon Maureen K. , Noskin Gary A. 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACT

The consequences of inactive empiric antimicrobial therapy are not well-described and may cause prolonged hospitalization or infection-related mortality. In vitro susceptibility results for 884 patients hospitalized at an academic medical center with gram-negative bloodstream infections (GNBI) from 2001 to 2003 were matched to antimicrobial orders within 24 h of culture. Clinical characteristics, organism, inpatient mortality, and length of stay after culture for patients with GNBI were compared between patients receiving active versus inactive empiric antimicrobial therapy. A total of 14.1% of patients with GNBI received inactive empiric therapy, defined as no antimicrobial therapy within 24 h of the culture active against the identified organism based on in vitro microbiology reports. Patients who received inactive therapy were more likely to be younger, to be infected with
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
, to have a nosocomial infection, and to receive antimicrobial monotherapy but less likely to be bacteremic with
Escherichia coli
or to have sepsis (
P
< 0.05). There were no significant differences in mortality between patients receiving active versus inactive empiric therapy (16.1% versus 13.6%, respectively) or in length of stay after positive culture (11.5 days versus 12.6 days, respectively). Only 45 patients had greater than 2 days of exposure to inactive therapy; however, 8/30 patients (26.7%) who never received active antimicrobial therapy died while in the hospital. Inactive empiric therapy was more common in healthier patients. Inactive antimicrobial therapy in the first 24 h did not significantly impact average outcomes for GNBI among hospitalized patients but may have caused harm to specific individuals.
Alternate Polypurine Tracts Affect Rous Sarcoma Virus Integration In Vivo
Authors: Oh Jangsuk , Chang Kevin W. , Alvord W. Gregory , Hughes Stephen H. 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACT
When the endogenous polypurine tract (PPT) of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-derived vector RSVP(A)Z was replaced with alternate retroviral PPTs, the fraction of unintegrated viral DNA with the normal consensus ends significantly decreased and the retention of part of the PPT significantly increased. If the terminus of the U3 long terminal repeat (LTR) is aberrant, RSV integrase can correctly process and integrate the normal U5 LTR into the host genome. However, the canonical CA is not involved in joining the aberrant U3 LTR to the host DNA, generating either large duplications or deletions of the host sequences instead of the normal 5- or 6-bp duplication.
DNA Vaccination Can Break Immunological Tolerance to PrP in Wild-Type Mice and Attenuates Prion Disease after Intracerebral Challenge
Authors: Fernandez-Borges Natalia , Brun Alejandro , Whitton J. Lindsay , Parra Beatriz , Diaz-San Segundo Fayna , Salguero Francisco J. , Torres Juan M. , Rodriguez Fernando 
Published: September 2006

ABSTRACTTransmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) can be ameliorated by prion protein (PrP)-specific antibodies, but active immunization is complicated by immune tolerance to the normal cellular host protein (PrPC). Here, we show that DNA immunization of wild-type mice can break immune tolerance against the prion protein, resulting in the induction of PrP-specific antibody and T-cell responses. PrP immunogenicity was increased by fusion to the lysosomal targeting signal from LIMPII (lysosomal integral membrane protein type II). Although mice immunized with a PrP-LIMPII DNA vaccine showed a dramatic delay in the onset of early disease signs after intracerebral challenge, immunization against PrP also had some deleterious effects. These results clearly confirm the feasibility of using active immunization to protect against TSEs and, in the absence of effective treatments, indicate a suitable alternative for combating the spread of these diseases.
The Big Finger: the second to fourth digit ratio is a predictor of sporting ability in women
Authors: Paul S N , Kato B S , Hunkin J L , Vivekanandan S , Spector T D 
Published: September 2006

Background:The second to fourth finger length ratio (2d:4d) is thought to be related to diverse traits including cognitive ability, disease susceptibility, and sexuality.Objective:To examine the relationship between 2d:4d and sports ability in women.Methods:Hand radiographs from 607 women (mean age 54 years) were used to estimate 2d:4d. Ranking of sports ability was on a scale (1–5).Results:The highest achieved level of participation in any sport was significantly negatively associated with 2d:4d (b  =  −4.93, p  =  0.01) as was the relationship between 2d:4d and running level (b  =  −6.81, p  =  0.034). Ability in other sports also showed a negative relationship albeit non-significant.Conclusions:These results suggest that a low 2d:4d ratio is related to increased female sports ability. It can be postulated that this ratio may predict potential sports ability. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning this relationship may give important insights into musculoskeletal fitness, health and disease.
A multivariate morphometric analysis of the Symphyotrichum boreale – S. nahanniense – S. welshii complex (Asteraceae: Astereae)
Authors: Owen Elliott , Semple John C. , Baum Bernard R. 
Published: September 2006

A multivariate morphometric study of the Symphyotrichum boreale – S. nahanniense – S. welshii complex was undertaken to assess the morphological differences between members of the complex and compare them with specimens of S. lanceolatum, a close relative. Discriminant analyses of a matrix of 119 specimens including the S. nahanniense – S. boreale – S. welshii complex and Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, provided significant statistical support for recognizing four distinct taxa. Within the S. nahanniense – S. boreale – S. welshii complex itself, discriminant analysis of 103 specimens reinforced treating the three groups as separate species. The analyses also revealed useful morphological traits that could be used to identify each taxon within the complex. Furthermore, comparisons were made among the four known populations of S. nahanniense. The results also indicated that the range of S. welshii is larger than previously reported and includes Utah, western Wyoming, and rarely further north in Montana and Idaho. Chromosome numbers are reported for Symphyotrichum boreale (2n = 16, first report for Wyoming; 2n = 48, first report for this taxon), S. lanceolatum subsp. hesperium (2n = 64, first reports for Northwest Territories, Canada), S. nahanniense (2n = 16, first reports for this taxon), and S. welshii (2n = 16, first reports for this taxon).
Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Reduces Monocyte Adhesion to Endothelium Through the Suppression of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 Expression
Authors: Inoue Kenji , Kobayashi Mika , Yano Kiichiro , Miura Mai , Izumi Akashi , Mataki Chikage , Doi Takeshi , Hamakubo Takao , Reid Patrick C. , Hume David A. , Yoshida Minoru , Aird William C. , Kodama Tatsuhiko , Minami Takashi 
Published: September 2006

Objective—Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α initiates numerous changes in endothelial cell (EC) gene expression that contributes to the pathology of various diseases including inflammation. We hypothesized that TNF-α–mediated gene induction involves multiple signaling pathways, and that inhibition of one or more of these pathways may selectively target subsets of TNF-α–responsive genes and functions.Methods and Results—Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECs) were preincubated with inhibitors of PI3 kinase (LY294002), histone deacetylases (HDAC) (trichostatin A [TSA]), de novo protein synthesis (CHX), proteasome (MG-132), and GATA factors (K-11430) before exposure to TNF-α at 4 hours and analyzed by microarray. TNF-α–mediated induction of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was attenuated by all of these inhibitors, whereas in contrast, stimulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was blocked by MG-132 alone. Moreover TSA blocked TNF-α–mediated induction of monocyte adhesion both in vitro and in vivo through the suppression of VCAM-1. Further analysis demonstrated that HDAC3 plays a significant role in the regulation of TNF-α–mediated VCAM-1 expression.Conclusions—TNF-α activates ECs via multiple signaling pathways, and these pathways may be selectively targeted to modulate EC function. Moreover, TSA treatment reduced monocyte adhesion via VCAM-1 suppression in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that TSA might be useful for the attenuation of the inflammatory response in EC.
Asp92Asn Polymorphism in the Myeloid IgA Fc Receptor Is Associated With Myocardial Infarction in Two Disparate Populations
Authors: Iakoubova Olga A. , Tong Carmen H. , Chokkalingam Anand P. , Rowland Charles M. , Kirchgessner Todd G. , Louie Judy Z. , Ploughman Lynn M. , Sabatine Marc S. , Campos Hannia , Catanese Joseph J. , Leong Diane U. , Young Bradford A. , Lew David , Tsuchihashi Zenta , Luke May M. , Packard Christopher J. , Zerba Kim E. , Shaw Peter M. , Shepherd James , Devlin James J. , Sacks Frank M. 
Published: September 2006

Objective—Statins reduce inflammation and risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Because the myeloid IgA Fc receptor encoded byFCARmediates inflammation, we hypothesized that theFCAR Asp92Asn polymorphism is associated with risk of MI and that this risk would be modified by pravastatin.Methods and Results—In the placebo arm of the Cholesterol and Recurrent Events (CARE) study, male carriers of the 92Asn allele had an adjusted hazard ratio for incident MI of 1.68 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.57); relative risk reduction by pravastatin was 69% in carriers and 12% in noncarriers (Pinteraction=0.007). In the placebo arm of the all-male West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), carriers had an adjusted odds ratio for incident coronary heart disease (CHD) of 1.46 (90% CI 1.05 to 2.03); for pravastatin compared with placebo treatment, the adjusted odds ratios were 0.55 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.93) in carriers and 0.65 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.83) in noncarriers (Pinteraction=0.55).Conclusions—Carriers of 92Asn had increased risk of MI in CARE and increased odds of CHD in WOSCOPS. Pravastatin significantly reduced risk in carriers in both CARE and WOSCOPS. A genotype by treatment interaction was observed in CARE but not in WOSCOPS.
Endotoxin Induces Toll-Like Receptor 4 Expression in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells via NADPH Oxidase Activation and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathways
Authors: Lin Feng-Yen , Chen Yung-Hsiang , Tasi Jen-Sung , Chen Jaw-Wen , Yang Tung-Lin , Wang Hsiao-Jung , Li Chi-Yuan , Chen Yuh-Lien , Lin Shing-Jong 
Published: September 2006

Objective—Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) plays a major role mediating endotoxin-induced cellular inflammation and regulates vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, which is related to atherogenesis and restenosis. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanisms involved in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TLR4 expression in VSMCs.Methods and Results—Stimulation of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) with LPS significantly increased TLR4 expression. The increase was regulated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (including the activation of subunits p47phoxand Rac1), which mediates the production of reactive oxygen species and the activation of intracellular mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Treatment with polyethylene-glycol-conjugated superoxide dismutase,N-acetylcysteine (NAC), diphenylene iodonium (DPI), or apocynin significantly decreased LPS-induced TLR4 expression. An actinomycin D chase experiment showed that LPS increased the half-life of TLR4 mRNA. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase activity by DPI, apocynin, or NAC significantly decreased TLR4 mRNA stability, as did the knock-down ofRAC1gene expression by RNA interference. We also demonstrated in an animal model that LPS administration led to a significant elevation of balloon-injury–induced neointimal hyperplasia, and of TLR4 expression, in rabbit aorta.Conclusion—These findings suggest that NADPH oxidase activation, mRNA stabilization, and MAPK signaling pathways play critical roles in LPS-enhanced TLR4 expression in HASMCs, which contributes to vascular inflammation and cardiovascular disorders.