bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social support, physical activity and sedentary behavior among 6th-grade girls: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Springer Andrew E , Kelder Steven H , Hoelscher Deanna M 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackgroundDespite the importance of social support in promoting physical activity, little is known about the relative influence of the type or source of social support on adolescent girls' physical activity and sedentary behaviors. This study examined the associations of two types of social support (social participation in and social encouragement for physical activity) and two social support sources (family and friends) with self-reported daily minutes of physical activity and sedentary behavior among sixth-grade girls in Texas.MethodsA secondary analysis of 718 sixth-grade girls between the ages of 10 to 14 was performed using cross-sectional baseline data from an osteoporosis prevention intervention study. Physical activity and sedentary behaviors (television-video viewing and computer-video game playing) were assessed using 3 administrations of the Self-Administered Physical Activity Checklist; social support indicators were assessed with Likert-type items from a psychosocial questionnaire.ResultsIn multiple linear regression analyses, friend physical activity participation (partial correlation coefficient (r) = 0.10, p = .009) and friend (r = 0.12) and family encouragement (r = 0.11) (p < .01, respectively) were positively related to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in the full model with other support variables, BMI and ethnicity; friend encouragement was the only variable positively related to vigorous physical activity (r = 0.11, p = .005). Family participation in physical activity had the strongest negative correlation with total minutes of television-video viewing and computer-video playing (r = -0.08, p < .05).ConclusionFindings lend support to the importance of social support for physical activity among adolescent girls but suggest that the source and type of social support may differ for physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Further research is needed to assess the causal or reciprocal relation between the roles of friends and family in promoting physical activity and of family physical activity in decreasing sedentary behaviors among early adolescent girls.
A proposed mechanism for progesterone regulation of trophoblast MMP2 transcription independent of classical progesterone response elements on its promoter
Authors: Goldman Shlomit , Shalev Eliezer 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background

Progesterone receptor act as ligand-inducible transcription factor in the respective target cells by binding to specific progesterone response elements in the promoter of the target genes. However, despite the lack of the classical progesterone response elements on matrix-metalloproteinase-2 promoter, progesterone has been shown to decrease the activity of this promoter

Presentation of the hypothesis

It has recently been suggested that in addition to interacting with their classical co-activators and co-repressors, progesterone receptor are capable of binding to several transcription factors. By interacting with other classes of transcription factors, progesterone receptor is capable of transcriptional activation through the transcription factors cognate DNA binding site.

Testing the hypothesis

Exploring transcription factors and transcription binding sites, interacting with the progesterone receptor in modulation of the matrix-metalloproteinase promoter.

Implications of the hypothesis

Identification of additional endogenous progesterone target genes makes it possible to further explore the signaling mechanisms by which the hormone regulates biological actions. Furthermore, the concepts of ligand-driven conformational diversity and selective tissue actions can be exploited in the future for drug development which selectively regulate orphan receptors from the nuclear receptor family.
Activation of Protein Kinase C in the Spinal Cord Produces Mechanical Hyperalgesia by Activating Glutamate Receptors, but does not Mediate Chronic Muscle-Induced Hyperalgesia
Authors: Sluka KA , Audette KM 
Published: April 2006

Background Protein kinase C (PKC) in the spinal cord appears to mediate chronic injury-induced pain, but not acute nociceptive pain. Muscle insult results in increased release of glutamate spinally, and hyperalgesia that is reversed by spinal blockade of NMDA and non-NMDA glutamate receptors. Therefore, we hypothesized that spinal activation of PKC 1) mediates the late phase of hyperalgesia 1 week after muscle insult, and 2) produces mechanical hyperalgesia through activation of NMDA and non-NMDA glutamate receptors. Results Rats were implanted with intrathecal catheters for delivery of drugs directly to the spinal cord. Mechanical withdrawal thresholds of the paw were determined using von Frey filaments. Intrathecal phorbol 12, 13 dibutyrate (PDBu) produced a dose-dependent decrease in the mechanical withdrawal threshold of the paw that was prevented by pretreatment with the PKC inhibitor, GF109203X. Pretreatment with an NMDA receptor antagonist (AP5) or a AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist (NBQX) prevented the decrease in mechanical withdrawal threshold by PDBu. Two injections of acidic saline in the gastrocnemius muscle decreased the mechanical withdrawal thresholds of the paw bilaterally 24 h and 1 week after the second injection. However, blockade PKC in the spinal cord had no effect on the decreased withdrawal thresholds of the paw when compared to vehicle controls. Conclusion Spinal activation of PKC produces mechanical hyperalgesia of the paw that depends on activation of NMDA and non-NMDA receptors. Chronic muscle-induced mechanical hyperalgesia, on the other hand, does not utilize spinal PKC.
A Clinical Genetic Method to Identify Mechanisms by Which Pain Causes Depression and Anxiety
Authors: Max Mitchell B , Wu Tianxia , Atlas Steven J , Edwards Robert R , Haythornthwaite Jennifer A , Bollettino Antonella F , Hipp Heather S , McKnight Colin D , Osman Inge A , Crawford Erin N , Pao Maryland , Nejim Jemiel , Kingman Albert , Aisen Daniel C , Scully Michele A , Keller Robert B , Goldman David , Belfer Inna 
Published: April 2006

Background Pain patients are often depressed and anxious, and benefit less from psychotropic drugs than pain-free patients. We hypothesize that this partial resistance is due to the unique neurochemical contribution to mood by afferent pain projections through the spino-parabrachial-hypothalamic-amygdalar systems and their projections to other mood-mediating systems. New psychotropic drugs for pain patients might target molecules in such brain systems. We propose a method to prioritize molecular targets by studying polymorphic genes in cohorts of patients undergoing surgical procedures associated with a variable pain relief response. We seek molecules that show a significant statistical interaction between (1) the amount of surgical pain relief, and (2) the alleles of the gene, on depression and anxiety during the first postoperative year. Results We collected DNA from 280 patients with sciatica due to a lumbar disc herniation, 162 treated surgically and 118 non-surgically, who had been followed for 10 years in the Maine Lumbar Spine Study, a large, prospective, observational study. In patients whose pain was reduced >25% by surgery, symptoms of depression and anxiety, assessed with the SF-36 Mental Health Scale, improved briskly at the first postoperative measurement. In patients with little or no surgical pain reduction, mood scores stayed about the same on average. There was large inter-individual variability at each level of residual pain. Polymorphisms in three pre-specified pain-mood candidate genes, catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), serotonin transporter, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were not associated with late postoperative mood or with a pain-gene interaction on mood. Although the sample size did not provide enough power to persuasively search through a larger number of genes, an exploratory survey of 25 other genes provides illustrations of pain-gene interactions on postoperative mood – the mu opioid receptor for short-term effects of acute sciatica on mood, and the galanin-2 receptor for effects of unrelieved post-discectomy pain on mood one year after surgery. Conclusion Genomic analysis of longitudinal studies of pain, depression, and anxiety in patients undergoing pain-relieving surgery may help to identify molecules through which pain alters mood. Detection of alleles with modest-sized effects will require larger cohorts.
Identification of acid reflux cough using serial assays of exhaled breath condensate pH
Authors: Hunt John , Yu Yuanlin , Burns James , Gaston Benjamin , Ngamtrakulpanit Lina , Bunyan Dorothy , Walsh Brian K , Smith Alison , Hom Stephanie 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Chronic cough is a common problem, frequently caused or exacerbated by acid reflux. Diagnosis of acid reflux cough is haphazard currently, often relying on long therapeutic trials of expensive medications. We tested the hypothesis that the most relevant mechanistic component of acid reflux in chronic cough is when it rises to the level of the airway where acid can potentially be aspirated. We further wished to determine if multi-sample exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH profiles can identify chronic cough patients likely to respond to proton pump inhibitor therapy.

Methods
59 subjects were recruited for this study. Initially we examined EBC pH (gas-standardized with Argon) in the setting of 15 experimental pharyngeal acid challenges to determine duration of EBC acidification. Subsequently, we enrolled 22 healthy subjects to determine a normal multi-sample exhaled breath condensate pH profile over 1–3 days. We additionally obtained multi-sample EBC pH profiles in 22 patients with chronic cough. These samples were timed to occur after coughing episodes. Exhaled breath condensate pH was measured after gas standardization.

Results
We found that exhaled breath condensate pH is substantially reduced for approximately 15 minutes after pharyngeal acid load. Healthy subjects rarely have any low EBC pH values (defined as < 7.4 based on a normative reference range from 404 healthy subjects). Patients with chronic cough who subsequently responded well to proton pump inhibition (n = 8) invariably had one or more cough episodes associated with EBC acidification. No patient who had normal EBC pH with each of their cough episodes reported a clinically relevant response to proton-pump inhibition.

Conclusion
Patients whose cough responds to proton pump inhibition have transient exhaled breath condensate acidification with coughing episodes, supporting the role of airway acidification in reflux-triggered cough. Multi-sample EBC pH profiles, involving samples collected immediately subsequent to a coughing episode, may be useful appropriately to direct therapy to those patients with cough who have relevant acid reflux.
ModuleFinder and CoReg: alternative tools for linking gene expression modules with promoter sequences motifs to uncover gene regulation mechanisms in plants
Authors: Holt Kathryn E , Harvey Millar A , Whelan James 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Uncovering the key sequence elements in gene promoters that regulate the expression of plant genomes is a huge task that will require a series of complementary methods for prediction, substantial innovations in experimental validation and a much greater understanding of the role of combinatorial control in the regulation of plant gene expression.

Results
To add to this larger process and to provide alternatives to existing prediction methods, we have developed several tools in the statistical package R. ModuleFinder identifies sets of genes and treatments that we have found to form valuable sets for analysis of the mechanisms underlying gene co-expression. CoReg then links the hierarchical clustering of these co-expressed sets with frequency tables of promoter elements. These promoter elements can be drawn from known elements or all possible combinations of nucleotides in an element of various lengths. These sets of promoter elements represent putative cis-acting regulatory elements common to sets of co-expressed genes and can be prioritised for experimental testing. We have used these new tools to analyze the response of transcripts for nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins in Arabidopsis to a range of chemical stresses. ModuleFinder provided a subset of co-expressed gene modules that are more logically related to biological functions than did subsets derived from traditional hierarchical clustering techniques. Importantly ModuleFinder linked responses in transcripts for electron transport chain components, carbon metabolism enzymes and solute transporter proteins. CoReg identified several promoter motifs that helped to explain the patterns of expression observed.

Conclusion

ModuleFinder identifies sets of genes and treatments that form useful sets for analysis of the mechanisms behind co-expression. CoReg links the clustering tree of expression-based relationships in these sets with frequency tables of promoter elements. These sets of promoter elements represent putative cis-acting regulatory elements for sets of genes, and can then be tested experimentally. We consider these tools, both built on an open source software product to provide valuable, alternative tools for the prioritisation of promoter elements for experimental analysis.
Cultural context in medical ethics: lessons from Japan
Authors: Powell Tia 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis paper examines two topics in Japanese medical ethics: non-disclosure of medical information by Japanese physicians, and the history of human rights abuses by Japanese physicians during World War II. These contrasting issues show how culture shapes our view of ethically appropriate behavior in medicine. An understanding of cultural context reveals that certain practices, such as withholding diagnostic information from patients, may represent ethical behavior in that context. In contrast, nonconsensual human experimentation designed to harm the patient is inherently unethical irrespective of cultural context. Attempts to define moral consensus in bioethics, and to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable variation across different cultural contexts, remain central challenges in articulating international, culturally sensitive norms in medical ethics.
The use of moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery is associated with repression of tumour necrosis factor-α via inhibition of activating protein-1: an experimental study
Authors: Qing Ma , Wöltje Michael , Schumacher Kathrin , Sokalska Magdalena , Vazquez-Jimenez Jaime F , Minkenberg Ralf , Seghaye Marie-Christine 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
Introduction
The use of moderate hypothermia during experimental cardiac surgery is associated with decreased expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α in myocardium and with myocardial protection. In order to identify the cellular mechanisms that lead to that repression, we investigated the effect of hypothermia during cardiac surgery on both main signalling pathways involved in systemic inflammation, namely the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and activating protein-1 pathways.

Method
Twelve female pigs were randomly subjected to standardized cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia or normothermia (temperature 28°C and 37°C, respectively; six pigs in each group). Myocardial probes were sampled from the right ventricle before, during and 6 hours after bypass. We detected mRNA encoding TNF-α by competitive RT-PCR and measured protein levels of TNF-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclo-oxygenase-2 by Western blotting. Finally, we assessed the activation of NF-κB and activating protein-1, as well as phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase by electrophoretic mobility shift assay with super shift and/or Western blot.

Results
During and after cardiac surgery, animals subjected to hypothermia exhibited lower expression of TNF-α and cyclo-oxygenase-2 but not of inducible nitric oxide synthase. This was associated with lower activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and of its downstream effector activating protein-1 in hypothermic animals. In contrast, NF-κB activity was no different between groups.

Conclusion
These findings indicate that the repression of TNF-α associated with moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery is associated with inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38/activating protein-1 pathway and not with inhibition of NF-κB. The use of moderate hypothermia during cardiac surgery may mitigate the perioperative systemic inflammatory response and its complications.
Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy versus surgical tracheostomy in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Delaney Anthony , Bagshaw Sean M , Nalos Marek 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
Introduction
Tracheostomy is one of the more commonly performed procedures in critically ill patients yet the optimal method of performing tracheostomies in this population remains to be established. The aim of this study was to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize all randomized clinical trials (RCTs), comparing elective percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) and surgical tracheostomy (ST) in adult critically ill patients with regards to major short and long term outcomes.

Methods
MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials Register databases were searched to identify relevant studies. Additionally, bibliographies and selected conference proceedings were reviewed, and experts in the field and manufacturers of two PDT kits were contacted. Randomized clinical trials comparing any method of elective PDT to ST that included critically ill adults and reported at least one clinically relevant outcome were included. Data extracted included trial characteristics, measures of study validity, and clinically relevant outcomes.

Results
Seventeen RCTs involving 1,212 patients were included. Most PDTs used a multiple dilator technique and were performed in the intensive care unit (ICU). The pooled odds ratio (OR) for wound infection was 0.28 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.16 to 0.49, p < 0.0005), indicating a significant reduction with PDT compared to ST. Overall, PDT was equivalent to ST for bleeding, major peri-procedural and long-term complications; however, subgroup analysis suggested PDT resulted in a lower incidence of bleeding (OR = 0.29 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.75, p = 0.01)) and death (OR = 0.71 (95% CI 0.50 to 1.0, p = 0.05)) when the STs were performed in the operating theatre.

Conclusion
PDT reduces the overall incidence of wound infection and may further reduce clinical relevant bleeding and mortality when compared with ST performed in the operating theatre. PDT, performed in the ICU, should be considered the procedure of choice for performing elective tracheostomies in critically ill adult patients.
Bacon and Gondomar: An Unknown Link in 1618
Authors: Loomie Albert J. 
Published: April 2006

In the summer of 1618 Francis Bacon wrote the following letter to the Spanish Ambassador to England, the Count of Gondomar, who had just left the kingdom:-Illustrissime Domine, Hoc mihi per absentiam tuam reliquum est ut desiderium tui per colloquia literarum leviam. Huius rei etiam data est occasio non nulla. Rex enim meus cum profisceretur ab urbe dedit mihi in mandatis curaeque meae comisit ut accerbitates et corruptelas apparitorum versus Catholicos examinari et tempore quam primo coerceri curarem. Quod ipsum tametsi pertineat ad exhibendam justitiam qua nihil Regi nostro antiquius esse solet tamen facile perspexi serenissimam suam Maiestatem huic curae hoc tempore magis sollicite incumbere quod in hac re satisfactionem dominationis tuae Illustrissimae contempletur. Quod tibi non iniucundum fore existimo cum ipse hoc propter amorem tui libentius audirem. Vale et adhibe diligentiam ad valitudinem tuam quae rerum magnarum periculo constat. De prospera transfretatione tibi gratulor.Julij 22° stilo vetero 1618Fr. Verulam Canc.
Encyclopédie
Authors: Françon Marcel 
Published: April 2006

On lit, dans A Literary History of England, un passage qui prétend traduire le latin d'Erasme: ‘Who does not admire in Grocyn the perfection of his training?’F. M. Nichols traduisit ainsi: ‘In Grocin who does not marvel at such a perfect round of learning.'Voici le texte original: ‘In Grocino quis ilium absolutum disciplinarum orbem non miretur?'La traduction de l'ouvrage de Baugh est trop éloignée du texte latin, et ne permet pas de comprendre ce que Erasme a voulu dire: je crois, en effet, qu'Erasme voulait désigner ce que le mot Encyclopédie, signifie, pour Budé, ‘une perfection des arts liberaux et sciences politicques, qu'on appelle en Grec Encyclopediaqui veult autant a dire (pour le declarer briefvement) comme erudition circulaire.'
The Legendary 'First' Military Campaign of Philip II
Authors: Spivakovsky Erika 
Published: April 2006

Philip II, as everyone knows, was an armchair strategist; he lacked the physical stamina of a military man, and the nearest he came to seeing a field of battle was his visit to St. Quentin (1557) after his troops had gained him a great victory there. Charles V was wise enough not to push his son beyond his limits; he never made him participate in one of his many wars. Yet a legend of relatively recent origin now sees Philip take part, at the age of fifteen, in the Spanish triumph (1542) at Perpignan.The facts of this event may be summed up as follows: In the summer of 1542, after not quite four years of the ten-year truce between Charles V and Francis I had passed, French armies under the Dauphin (the later Henri II) set out in June toward Narbonne, aiming to advance on the (then) Spanish county of Rosellón (Roussillon), laying siege to Perpignan in the latter part of August. The Duke of Alba, anticipating their approach, had improved Perpignan's fortifications in good time and lined up an overflow of Spanish armies ready to meet the attackers.
Analysis of serum granulysin in patients with hematopoietic stem‐cell transplantation: Its usefulness as a marker of graft‐versus‐host reaction
Authors: Nagasawa Masayuki , Isoda Takeshi , Itoh Sukeyuki , Kajiwara Michiko , Morio Tomohiro , Shimizu Norio , Ogawa Kazuyuki , Nagata Kinya , Nakamura Masataka , Mizutani Shuki 
Published: April 2006

AbstractGranulysin is a newly identified CTL/NK cell‐related cytotoxic protein, which is secreted in both constitutive and Ca‐dependent manner. To evaluate its significance in stem‐cell transplantation (SCT), serum granulysin was measured by newly established ELISA method in 26 patients undergoing SCT (21 allogeneic and 5 autologous). In the allogeneic SCT, granulysin was transiently increased in 3 weeks, which was not observed in autologous SCT. In acute GVHD, serum granulysin was markedly increased and correlated with the severity of GVHD. Elevation of granulysin was not necessarily associated with increase of sIL2R or IFN‐γ. In vitro, allospecific T cells released granulysin in an allo‐specific manner, and it was correlated with allo‐specific cytotoxic activity. These results indicate that increased release of granulysin presents alloreactivity and serum granulysin is useful as a marker of GVHD in SCT. Am. J. Hematol. 81:340–348, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.