bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Navigating the maze: parents’ views and influence on a paediatric haematology and oncology day care service
Authors: Lowe Rochelle , Bravery Karen , Gibson Faith 
Published: November 2008

Aim. To examine with families their views on the service they receive in a Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Day Care Unit.Background. National policy emphasises the importance of involving children, young people and families in the planning of services they are receiving. To be responsive to real, as opposed to perceived needs, health care professionals are actively seeking ways to capture the voice of the families they care for through a process of consultation and action.Design. Focus groups.Method. A series of focus groups were undertaken with 16 families who were either on treatment or within six months of completion of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Tape‐ and note‐based analysis was initially undertaken and the data sorted by means of an overview grid. Data were then analysed by the research team through comparison and agreement of final themes.Results. The majority of families were satisfied with the care they received. Six themes are described that capture their combined thoughts on their overall experience; navigating the maze, communication, continuity of care, environment, waiting and organisation of care.Conclusions. Focus groups are an effective means of obtaining data from service users. Group discussion allowed for the sharing and development of ideas to be incorporated into developments within the service.Relevance to clinical practice. Increasingly, children, young people and their families are being cared for within Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Day Care units, it is, therefore, vital that this aspect of care is designed, co‐ordinated and delivered around the needs of the family. This can only be achieved by listening to the stories of those families who use our service to confirm what it is that works well and what areas of care may need to be enhanced.
An ethnography of a children’s renal unit: experiences of children and young people with long‐term renal illness
Authors: Lindsay Waters Anne 
Published: November 2008

Aim.  This study explored the experience of long‐term renal illness, including issues concerning compliance with treatment, from the perspectives of children and young people.Background.  Children and young people have difficulty complying with renal treatment; research in this area usually focuses on their compliance with a narrow range of behaviours: compliance with dialysis, tablet taking and dietary and fluid restrictions. Renal compliance studies are usually premised on the assumption that children will automatically comply with treatment and/or that blame for non‐compliance rests with the child and family.Design.  The study, underpinned by a view of children as competent social agents, used ethnography to explore and describe the everyday experience of long‐term renal illness.Method.  Ethnographic fieldwork – involving participant observation, informal interviews and the use of children’s drawings – took place over 16 months in a hospital renal unit comprising an inpatient ward, a haemodialysis unit and an outpatient clinic. The primary participants were 13 children; 14 carers and 36 staff members also participated. Data were interrogated through descriptive and thematic forms of analysis.Results.  This study reveals participants’ perspectives on the physical and social impact of renal treatment. It also provides a conceptualisation of life with long‐term renal illness that highlights children’s management of ‘illness labour’, their inhabitation ‘renal geographical space’, ‘a renal body’ and a ‘renal social world’.Conclusions.  These findings show how compliance with renal treatment involves particular embodied experiences that are hard for children to manage. Traditional views of compliance/non‐compliance render children’s embodied experience and their labour in managing dialysis, thirst and their difficulties with tablet taking irrelevant, whilst this study shows these as highly relevant to children.Relevance to clinical practice.  The conceptualisation of children’s experience arising in this study provides a new way of considering the embodied experience of children with long‐term renal illness.
An analysis of job search behaviour of inactive nurses in Japan
Authors: Kawaguchi Akira , Yasukawa Fumiaki , Matsuda Yoichiro 
Published: November 2008

Aim.  The aim of this paper is to examine inactive nurses’ job‐searching behaviours to return to healthcare workplace at where serious difficulty of meeting demand and supply of nurses exist.Design and methods.  To clarify the factors that would make their attempts easy or difficult, successful or not, we employed econometric method to analyse the probability of job finding in terms of both the length of duration and the quality of consequence in job‐seeking behaviour by using microdata pooled on Japan Nursing Association Computer System (NCCS), in which inactive nurses’ individual attributes (gender, age, academic background, the types of qualifications, the number of preschool aged children, etc) are stated.Results.  From the estimations, we found that (i) having preschool children is one of the factors of delaying job finding, and failing to obtain desired workplace and working style; (ii) nurses with higher educational backgrounds tend to spend a longer time in finding jobs and (iii) training programme for the returners may not work well in case of shorter career blank, while may support for those who have longer one.Relevance to clinical practice.  To meet the desired demand for qualified nurses in healthcare facilities, we should (i) develop more supportive working environment for nurses with preschool children, such as more flexible working time and shifts; (ii) encourage the employment of higher educated nurses by reforming compensation scheme, as well as reconsidering of the standard of skill‐mix; and (iii) redevelop training programme for returners with more practical contents.
Extensive population expansion of Pedicularis longiflora (Orobanchaceae) on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau and its correlation with the Quaternary climate change
Authors: YANG FU‐SHENG , LI YU‐FEI , DING XIN , WANG XIAO‐QUAN 
Published: November 2008

AbstractThe Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is thought to be more strongly affected by the Quaternary glaciations than most other regions of the same latitude. It would be of great interest to investigate the population genetic structure of organisms distributed on the platform and its correlation with the Quaternary climatic oscillations. Here we used the chloroplast (cp)DNA trnT‐trnF sequence to study genetic variation and phylogeography of Pedicularis longiflora, an alpine herb with extensive distribution on the QTP. Based on a range‐wide sampling comprising 41 populations and 910 individuals, we detected 30 cpDNA haplotypes that were divided into five clades by phylogenetic and network analyses and a strong phylogeographical structure. All haplotypes but one in the three basal clades occur exclusively in the southeast QTP, whereas haplotypes in the young clade V occupy almost the whole species range. In particular, the young haplotype H18 occurs in 420 individuals, even at a frequency of 100% in some QTP platform populations and the Altai population. The haplotype distribution pattern, together with molecular clock estimation and mismatch distribution analysis, suggests that the southeast QTP was either a refuge for P. longiflora during the Quaternary climatic change or is the place of origin of the species. The present wide distribution of the species on the QTP platform has resulted from recent population expansions which could be dated back to 120 000–17 000 years ago, a period mostly before the last glacial maximum. The possible relationships among geographic genetic structure, climatic change and species diversification in Pedicularis are also discussed.
dhfr and dhps genotype and sulfadoxine‐pyrimethamine treatment failure in children with falciparum malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Alker Alisa P. , Kazadi Walter M. , Kutelemeni Albert K. , Bloland Peter B. , Tshefu Antoinette K. , Meshnick Steven R. 
Published: November 2008

SummaryObjective  To determine the relationship between mutations in dhfr and dhps and SP treatment failure in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Methods  Therapeutic efficacy trial was conducted in Rutshuru, Eastern DRC, between June and September 2002, comparing sulfadoxine‐pyrimethamine (SP), SP plus amodiaquine (AQSP) and artesunate plus SP (ASSP) regimens for treating malaria in children under 5 years old. We genotyped 212 samples for mutations associated with SP resistance and investigated their association with treatment failure.Results  In the SP arm, 61% of the subjects experienced treatment failure after 14 days. The failure rate was lower in the combination arms (AQSP: 32%, ASSP: 21%). The dhfr‐108 and dhfr‐51 mutations were nearly universal while 89% of the samples had at least one additional mutation at dhfr‐59, dhps‐437 or dhps‐540. Dhps mutations had a bigger impact on treatment failure in children with high parasite density: for children with a parasite density <45 000 parasites/μl, the risk of treatment failure was 37% for mutations at dhps‐437 and dhps‐540 mutation and 21% for neither mutation [risk difference (RD) = 17%, 95% CI: −3%, 36%]. In children with a parasite density >45 000 parasites/μl, the treatment failure risk was 58% and 8% for children with both mutations or neither mutation, respectively (RD = 51%, 95% CI: 34%, 67%).Conclusions  Dhps‐437 and dhps‐540 are strongly associated with SP treatment failure and should be evaluated further as a method for surveillance of SP‐based therapy in DRC.
Evidence that double transfection to xenoendothelial cells using GPI‐anchoring complement regulatory factor (DAF and HRF20) genes is useful for the inhibition of human complement‐mediated cytolysis
Authors: Hayashi Shuji , Emi Nobuhiko , Isobe Ken‐Ichi , Okada Hidechika , Yokoyama Itsuo , Takagi Hiroshi 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: It has been known that xenogeneic cells transfected with regulator of complement activation (RCA) molecules such as DAF (CD55), MCP (CD46) and HRF20 (CD59) resist the lysis by the human complement. However, it has not been demonstrated that the induction of double RCA molecules is more effective than that of single RCA molecule to inhibit the human complement attack. In this study, the authors compared the effect on the protection from complement‐mediated lysis between single transfection and double transfection of DAF and HRF20 cDNA to bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) using retro viral vector.BAEC transfected with DAF or HRF20 cDNA resisted the lysis by human serum in parallel with the intensity of antigen expression, whereas BAEC transfected with both DAF and HRF20 cDNA resisted the lysis by human serum with anti‐BAEC antibody, not human serum alone, more effectively than those with DAF cDNA alone. We conclude that the xenogeneic cells doubly transfected with both DAF and HRF20 cDNA are protected from complement mediated lysis more effectively than those singly transfected with DAF cDNA alone.
Antibodies to human adhesion molecules and their ligands: Cross‐species reactivity and potential application in xenotransplantation
Authors: Carter Anthony S. , Welsh Kenneth I. , Morris Peter J. , Fuggle Susan V. 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: Given the renewed interest in the possibility of using animals as an alternative source of organs for transplantation, it would be useful to have tools to study and manipulate the inflammatory response to a xenograft. With this in mind, we have screened cynomolgus monkey and porcine tissue with 37 antibodies specific for human leukocyte differentiation antigens and adhesion molecules. The cynomolgus monkey, an old world primate, is a concordant species with respect to humans, in contrast to the pig, which is a discordant species.The cross‐species reactivities of the antibodies tested fall into three groups: i) no crossreactivity; ii) crossreactivity with a tissue distribution similar to that in the human; iii) crossreactivity, but with a distribution different from that in the human. Those antibodies directed against E‐ and P‐selectin, ICAM‐1 (intercellular adhesion molecule‐1) and VCAM‐1 (vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1), which were reactive with monkey tissue, had a similar distribution to that seen in human tissue, but were unreactive with the porcine tissue tested. While an anti‐CD31 antibody detected a conserved epitope on endothelium, species differences were apparent in leukocyte reactivity. One of the antibodies directed against CD 18 reacted with leukocytes in all three species, whereas the other antibody detected an epitope present on porcine muscle/connective tissue. While antibodies to VLA‐4 (Very Late Antigen‐4) detected a small number of leukocytes in the kidney, they also reacted with the Bowman's capsule in the kidney and matrix protein/connective tissue in the lymph node.This study indicates that when antibodies react across species, some epitopes recognized in the old world nonhuman primates may have a distribution similar to those detected in human tissue, whereas in more distant species such as the pig, in many instances the epitope is present on entirely different structures. Nevertheless, the absence of crossreactivity of human reagents with porcine tissue may allow targeting of molecules in a species‐specific manner, allowing their use for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.
The effect of plasmapheresis and deoxyspergualin or cyclophosphamide treatment on anti‐porcine Gal‐α(1,3)‐Gal antibody levels in humans
Authors: Gannedahl G. , Tufveson G. , Sundberg B. , Groth C.G. 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: The levels of human natural anti‐porcine antibodies were followed in six HLA‐immunized patients treated with plasmapheresis (PF) in combination with either 15‐deoxyspergualin (DSG) or cyclophosphamide (CYP). PF was carried out three times a week for 4 weeks, and DSG was administered in a dose of 5 mg/kg following every third PF. CYP was given in a daily dose of 1–1.5 mg/kg. Four patients were randomized to DSG treatment and two were given CYP. Following the last (4th) DSG infusion, all patients continued on CYP treatment. Levels of antibodies toward porcine thyroglobulin were measured in an ELISA assay; thyroglobulin carries the major target for human anti‐porcine natural antibodies, Gal‐α(1,3)‐Gal determinant.In all patients there was a drop in antibody levels. However, the antibodies never disappeared. The drop was more pronounced and more rapid in the DSG‐treated group, but following the end of the PF series, antibody levels in both treatment groups rapidly returned to baseline or above baseline. In two patients in the DSG group, treatment had to be stopped because of side effects. No adverse reactions were noted in the CYP group.It is concluded that plasmapheresis in conjunction with DSG seems more effective than CYP treatment in reducing the levels of anti‐porcine Gal‐α(1,3)‐Gal antibody. However, the dose of DSG should be reduced to lower the risk of side effects.
Utility of xenografts: Lack of correlation between PRA and natural antibodies to swine
Authors: Bartholomew A. , Latinne D. , Sachs D.H. , Arn J. Scotl , Gianello P. , de Bruyere ML , Sokal G. , Squifflet J. , Alexandre G. , Comerford C. , Saidman S. , Cosimi A. 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: Among the patients that might potentially benefit from the availability of xenografts are those in kidney failure who demonstrate high levels of antibody reactivity to panels of typing lymphocytes. Such individuals with high PRA (panel reactive antibody) are unlikely to receive a renal allograft because they are highly sensitized to the vast majority of potential donors. In addition, all humans have demonstrable levels of natural antibodies reactive to distantly related species such as the pig. If there were a correlation between PRA and levels of natural antibodies, then such patients would also be at greater risk for hyperacute rejection of xenografts. We have therefore examined, in a blinded fashion, the porcine lymphocyte reactivity of sera from PRA positive donors. Subsets of the 105 sera tested were grouped by PRA level and analyzed for levels of natural antibodies detectable by a complement‐dependent cytotoxicity assay on porcine lymphocytes. There was no significant difference in the range of titers of natural antibodies between subsets. Thus, there was no demonstrable correlation between levels of PRA and levels of natural antibodies to porcine lymphocytes.In addition, we studied the sera of 11 highly sensitized patients who received renal allografts and conventional triple drug immunosuppression in order to determine whether immunosuppression to maintain a vascularized allograft had an effect on PRA and/or xenoreactivity. Mean post‐operative PRA was significantly lower than mean pre‐operative PRA, while there was no significant difference in xenoreactivity. Thus, pre‐transplant immunosuppression may permit an increased opportunity to identify compatible human donors for highly sensitized recipients and will not help or hinder the pre‐transplant conditioning of a candidate for I xenotransplantation.
Rejection of hamster skin xenografts by rats in the absence of anti‐hamster antibody formation
Authors: Gourlay William A. , Maki Takashi , Monaco Anthony P. 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: The hamster to rat xenograft combination is considered to be a “difficult” concordant combination. Although the rat lacks preformed anti‐hamster antibodies, there is rapid production of antibodies upon exposure to hamster antigens. When vascularized hamster xenografts are rejected in the rat, anti‐hamster antibodies are invariably detected in both the serum and in the rejected tissue. In allogeneic and other concordant xenogeneic (rat to mouse) combinations, rapamycin has been shown to markedly augment the survival of skin grafts in ALS‐treated, bone marrow injected mice. We investigated the ability of rapamycin to prolong the survival of skin grafts and block antibody production in the hamster to rat combination.Outbred Golden Syrian hamsters served as skin and marrow donors and Lewis rats were recipients. ALS was administered on days ‐1, 0, and +2 relative to skin grafting. Rapamycin was administered at 3 mg/kg on alternate days from day +1 through day +13 (seven doses). Donor specific bone marrow was infused IV on day +4 at a dose of either 100 times 106 or 250 times 106 nucleated cells. Antibody titers were determined serially by using a complement dependent cytotoxicity assay. The administration of rapamycin alone (MST 8.5 days) and ALS alone (MST 10 days) prolonged graft survival slightly but significantly compared with untreated controls (MST 7 days). The addition of BM had no additional effect on graft survival beyond that achieved with ALS alone. Rapamycin markedly prolonged skin graft survival when added to ALS (MST 16 days), ALS+BM100 (MST 19 days), or ALS+BM250 (MST 20.5 days).Rats receiving ALS or ALS+BM produced anti‐hamster antibodies in a slightly delayed fashion and at a slightly lower titer when compared to controls. Treatment with rapamycin alone substantially diminished but did not completely eliminate anti‐hamster antibody production. Rats receiving rapamycin with ALS or ALS+BM failed to produce anti‐hamster antibodies entirely, although they all eventually rejected the hamster skin grafts. Rapamycin, when used in combination with ALS or ALS plus BM is able to prolong skin graft survival and completely abolish antibody production in the hamster to rat combination. The eventual rejection of hamster skin grafts in this circumstance occurs in the absence of anti‐hamster antibodies.
Human CD8 responder cells can be directly activated to proliferate and to produce IL‐2 following stimulation by allogeneic, but not by xenogeneic, porcine blood mononuclear cells
Authors: Kawagishi Naoki , Möller Erna , Satake Masahiro 
Published: November 2008

Abstract:In order to determine the precise nature of human T lymphocytes reactivity against porcine stimulator cells, purified CD4+and CD8+ human peripheral T lymphocytes have been tested for their responsiveness against porcine stimulator cells. In a xenogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), CD4+ T cells were capable of proliferating as a result of the recognition of porcine peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), whereas CD8+ T cells were unresponsive. A proliferative response of CD8+ T cells could be restored by treatment with human IL‐2, but not by IL‐lα, IL‐lβ, or IL‐6. Production of IL‐2 was not detected in the xenostimulated CD8+ responder cells, nor could IL‐2 production be restored by the addition of IL‐lα, IL‐1β, or IL‐6. The presence of human CD4+responder cells was crucial both for a xenoproliferative response and for IL‐2 synthesis. However, when the expression of the IL‐2 receptor (CD25) on the CD8+T cells was analyzed, no difference was detected between xenostimulated and allostimulated CD8+T cells. When the development of cytotoxic T cells in xenogeneic and allogeneic MLRs was compared, the cytotoxic activity exhibited by purified CD8+ T cells in xenogeneic MLR was significantly lower than that in the allogeneic combination. In the xenogeneic combination, exogenous IL‐2 reconstituted the cytotoxicity by purified CD8+T cells; however, IL‐lα, IL‐lβ, or IL‐6 did not.Our results show that purified human CD4+T cells respond directly against pig PBMCs, whereas purified CD8+T cells do not. Furthermore, responsiveness in CD8+T cells is completely restored by the addition of human IL‐2.
A polycistronic retrovirus vector for expression of swine MHC class II DRaα/β heterodimers
Authors: Banerjee Papia T. , Kaynor G. Campbell , Muthukumar Shanfhini , Denaro Maria , Shimada Hideaki , Zhu Shaochun , Rosa Margaret D. , Sachs David H. , LeGuern Christian 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: A recombinant polycistronic retroviral vector was generated to express multimeric proteins from a single transcript by using internal ribosomal entry sites which allow independent initiation of translation from internal cistrons. In addition, an enhancerless SV40 origin of replication was incorporated into the recombinant plasmids between the retroviral long terminal repeat sequences to facilitate the testing of expression of multiple proteins in a transient COS cell transfection assay.With the ultimate goal of utilizing these vector types for the induction of transplantation tolerance via retrovirus‐mediated gene transfer (LeGuern et al. J Mol Med 1995: 42: 269 [1]; Sachs Transplant Sci 1993: 42: 59 [2]) we have incorporated miniature swine MHC class II DRA and DRB cDNAs which encode for the SLA‐DRα and SLA‐DRβ polypeptide chains, respectively, into the retroviral construct. The pro viral DNA integrated within the producer clone genome, was found to be stable over a 3‐month period and no loss of expression of DR heterodimers was observed on the cell surface of either the retrovirus producer cells or the retrovirally transduced fibroblast cell line. High titers (>1 times 106 CFU/ml) of recombinant particles, devoid of replication competent helper viruses, were obtained. Such vectors represent the first successful attempt to express multimeric proteins at the cell surface of transduced cells.