bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Autonomic Abnormalities in Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
Authors: Chelimsky Thomas C , Chelimsky Gisela G 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTBackground:Although cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is associated with migraine, and migraine in turn is associated with orthostatic tachycardia, few studies have explored the association of CVS and autonomic dysfunction. We describe the results of autonomic testing in 6 children with characteristic CVS.Patients and Methods:All patients fully met the established criteria for the diagnosis of CVS, were well hydrated, and were beyond their episode of vomiting. We performed 3 tests of cardiovascular function and 1 sudomotor test, using standard previously published methods.Results:The findings were surprisingly uniform, with normal cardiovascular responses to deep breathing and to the Valsalva maneuver in all patients, a significant increase in heart rate (>30 beats per minute) with tilt testing, and a vasodepressor tendency in 2 patients. Interestingly, abdominal pain occurred at blood pressure nadir in both these patients and in a third patient without the vasodepressor findings but who described syncope clinically. Sudomotor test results were abnormal in all 6 patients, with reduced responses in 5 of 6 and exaggerated responses in the 6th. All 6 patients reported a personal or family history of migraine headaches.Conclusions:CVS is associated with remarkably uniform primarily sympathetic autonomic dysfunction, affecting mainly the vasomotor and sudomotor systems, and compatible with an underlying autonomic neuropathy. The occurrence of symptoms during tilt testing in half the patients suggests that these findings may play a true pathophysiologic role. A vagally modulated sympathetic effect is postulated as the best mechanistic model to account for all current physiologic data on cyclic vomiting and gastroparesis.
Short‐ and Long‐term Response to and Weaning from Infliximab Therapy in Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis
Authors: Fanjiang Gary , Russell George H , Katz Aubrey J 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTObjectives:We evaluated the response to infliximab in pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and their long‐term follow‐up. We expanded our previous study of 14 patients and furthermore evaluated the success of weaning patients from infliximab.Patients and Methods:We reviewed the charts of 27 pediatric patients with UC who were treated with infliximab instead of undergoing a colectomy. Patients with new‐onset UC refractory to intravenous steroids for 5 to 10 days and patients with non–steroid‐dependent UC with an acute exacerbation were classified as acutely ill (n = 16); patients with chronic steroid‐dependent UC were classified as chronically ill (n = 11). The Lichtiger Colitis Activity Index (LCAI) was measured for all patients at baseline and at 1 and 2 months after treatment with infliximab was initiated. Patients were regarded as successfully treated if they remained off steroids and avoided colectomy.Results:The acutely ill group had a mean LCAI score of 11.4 at induction and 0.3 after 2 months. The chronically ill group had a mean LCAI score of 11.2 at induction and 5.5 after 2 months. Treatment with infliximab was successful in 75% of acutely ill patients and in 27% of chronically ill patients. Infliximab was discontinued in 80% of successfully treated patients (83% of acutely ill, 67% of chronically ill). These patients had an average of 10 infusions and a mean follow‐up time of 10 months from their last infliximab infusion.Conclusions:Our results suggest that infliximab is more effective in acutely ill UC patients than in patients with chronic steroid‐dependent UC. In addition, some patients treated with infliximab can be weaned from infliximab and maintain remission.
Effect of Antireflux Treatment on Asthma Exacerbations in Nonatopic Children
Authors: Khoshoo Vikram , Haydel Robert 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTObjective:To evaluate the asthma outcome of treatment with ranitidine or esomeprazole plus metoclopramide in older children with moderate‐persistent asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Patients and Methods:The study patients included 44 patients with asthma and GERD who had received 1 year of treatment with a proton pump inhibitor/prokinetic combination and had shown significant clinical improvement in asthma symptoms and no exacerbations for more than 3 months. For further treatment, 30 of the 44 patients continued treatment with esomeprazole/metoclopramide (group A), and 14 switched to ranitidine (group B). Nine patients with GERD and asthma who had previously undergone fundoplication were used as control individuals (group C). All patients were followed up closely for exacerbation of asthma symptoms and treated according to a standardized protocol.Results:During the 6‐month follow‐up, group B patients experienced significantly more exacerbations per patient (2.2) than did those in group A (0.33) or group C (0.77) (P < 0.05).Conclusions:Fundoplication or continued treatment with esomeprazole and metoclopramide is associated with significantly fewer exacerbations of asthma symptoms in children with moderate‐persistent asthma and concomitant GERD in comparison with treatment with ranitidine.
Severity of heroin use in Israel: comparisons between native Israelis and former Soviet Union immigrants
Authors: Isralowitz Richard , Reznik Alexander , Spear Suzanne E. , Brecht Mary Lynn , Rawson Richard A. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTAims  This study examined drug use patterns and severity among native‐Israeli and former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants in Israel who reported heroin use.Design, setting and participants  a total of 272 native Israelis and 300 FSU heroin users were interviewed from 2002 to 2006 as part of a large drug use surveillance study in Israel. Individuals were sampled at an intake centre, a methadone clinic and a day‐treatment facility in the Negev region of Israel. Participants were assessed using the Addiction Severity Index, fifth edition. Native Israeli and FSU users were compared within two groups: those interviewed at intake and those interviewed in treatment.Findings  Overall, ASI composite scores suggested generally comparable levels of addiction severity between the two ethnic groups. Native‐born Israelis reported more years of heroin use; however, the FSU immigrants reported longer use of other opiates. The FSU reported significantly more heroin use by injection, and a significantly higher rate of hepatitis C and other chronic medical problems. Comparisons by gender within each group revealed higher drug severity scores for females (native‐born Israeli and FSU combined). Females in the intake group had significantly higher severity scores in the areas of employment and psychiatric status when compared to individuals who had been in treatment for some time.Conclusions  Except for higher levels of alcohol use, the FSU did not have more severe drug problems than the native Israelis as measured by ASI severity scores. Injection use among FSU, however, is a critical public health problem, especially given the well‐established link between injection drug use, hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.
Discrepancies in estimates of prevalence and correlates of substance use and disorders between two national surveys
Authors: Grucza Richard A. , Abbacchi Anna M. , Przybeck Thomas R. , Gfroerer Joseph C. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTAim  To assess the degree to which methodological differences might influence estimates of prevalence and correlates of substance use and disorders by comparing results from two recent surveys administered to nationally representative US samples.Methods  Post‐hoc comparison of data from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) with data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) administered in 2001–02.Results  Prevalence estimates for all substance use outcomes were higher in the NSDUH than in the NESARC; ratios of NSDUH to NESARC prevalences ranged from 2.1 to 5.7 for illegal drug use outcomes. In the NSDUH, past‐year substance use disorder (SUD) prevalence estimates were higher for cocaine and heroin, but were similar to NESARC estimates for alcohol, marijuana and hallucinogens. However, prevalence estimates for past‐year SUD conditional on past‐year use were substantially lower in the NSDUH for marijuana, hallucinogens and cocaine. Associations among drug and SUD outcomes were substantially higher in the NESARC. Total SUD prevalence did not differ between surveys, but estimates for blacks and Hispanics were higher in the NSDUH.Conclusion  A number of methodological variables might have contributed to such discrepancies; among plausible candidates are factors related to privacy and anonymity, which may have resulted in higher use estimates in the NSDUH, and differences in SUD diagnostic instrumentation, which may have resulted in higher SUD prevalence among past‐year substance users in the NESARC.
Genes, time to first cigarette and nicotine dependence in a general population sample of young adults
Authors: Haberstick Brett C. , Timberlake David , Ehringer Marissa A. , Lessem Jeffrey M. , Hopfer Christian J. , Smolen Andrew , Hewitt John K. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTAim  To examine variation in nicotine dependence scores and covariation between different dependence symptoms.Design  A 12‐year, nationally representative, probability‐based survey of adolescent health‐related behaviors and their outcomes during young adulthood in the United States. The genetic contribution to nicotine dependence was evaluated in the sibling‐pairs sample of the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.Measurements  Nicotine dependence (ND) was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) in 1154 young adults, between the ages of 18 and 25 years, who were from twin, full sibling and half‐sibling pairs.Findings  Dependence in this sample was common and varied in degree. Total HSI scores evidenced moderate to large heritable contributions (61%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.46–0.72), as did the quantity of cigarettes smoked (52%, 95% CI: 0.39–0.63) and urgency to smoke (55%, 95% CI: 0.38–0.68). Multivariate modeling identified a highly heritable underlying factor (76%, 95% CI: 0.56–0.91) that influenced the covariation of dependence symptoms and loaded most heavily on how soon after waking a smoker uses his or her first cigarette. The quantity of cigarettes smoked per day also evidenced residual genetic influences that were not common to other dependence‐related behaviors.Conclusions  In this sample of young adults from the general population, both genes and individual‐specific environments are important etiological factors in ND. The urgency to smoke, as measured by the time to first cigarette, may be the most informative measure on the FTND for genetic studies of nicotine dependence.
Risk factors for methadone outside treatment programs: implications for HIV treatment among injection drug users
Authors: Vlahov D. , O'Driscoll P. , Mehta S. H. , Ompad D. C. , Gern R. , Galai N. , Kirk G. D. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTBackground  Diversion of methadone outside treatment programs occurs, yet reasons for use of ‘street methadone’ are characterized poorly. Self‐medication for withdrawal symptoms is one plausible hypothesis. Among HIV‐infected drug users, some antiretroviral medications can reduce potency of methadone, yet any association between such effects and the use of supplemental methadone sources remains undetermined.Objective  To estimate the frequency and risk factors for use of street methadone.Methods  Injection drug users (IDUs) recruited through extensive community outreach in 1988–89 and 1994 were followed semi‐annually with questionnaires about health history, use of licit and illicit drugs including methadone and HIV‐related assays. Analyses were performed using generalized estimating equation logistic regression.Results  Of 2811 IDUs enrolled and eligible for analysis, 493 people reported use of street methadone over 12 316 person‐years of follow‐up (4.0/100 person‐years). In multivariate analyses, street methadone use was more common among women, whites, those 40–59 years old, those who reported withdrawal symptoms, past methadone program attendance (6–12 months before visit), recent heroin injection with or without cocaine (but not cocaine alone), smoking or sniffing heroin and reported trading sex. Street methadone was not associated with HIV infection or treatment.Conclusion  The results suggest that older IDUs still using heroin may be using street methadone to treat signs of withdrawal. The absence of a higher rate of street methadone use in HIV seropositive IDUs reveals that antiretroviral/methadone interactions are not a primary determinant of use outside of treatment settings.
Tolerance in banana to Fusarium wilt is associated with early up‐regulation of cell wall‐strengthening genes in the roots
Authors: VAN DEN BERG NOËLANI , BERGER DAVE K. , HEIN INGO , BIRCH PAUL R. J. , WINGFIELD MICHAEL J. , VILJOEN ALTUS 
Published: February 2007

SUMMARYFusarium wilt, caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), is one of the most destructive diseases of bananas. In the tropics and subtropics, Cavendish banana varieties are highly susceptible to Foc race 4 (VCG 0120). Cavendish selection GCTCV‐218 was shown to have significantly lower disease severity and incidence compared with susceptible cultivar Williams in replicated greenhouse and field trials. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was previously carried out to identify genes induced in roots of GCTCV‐218, but not in Williams, after infection with Foc‘subtropical’ race 4. Seventy‐nine SSH clones were sequenced and revealed 13 non‐redundant gene fragments, several of which showed homology to defence‐associated genes, including cell wall‐strengthening genes. Quantitative RT‐PCR was used to confirm up‐regulation and differential expression of a number of genes throughout a time‐course, following Foc infection in the tolerant GCTCV‐218 when compared with susceptible cv. Williams. Tolerance of GCTCV‐218 was linked to significantly increased induction of cell wall‐associated phenolic compounds.
Planned telephone support for disadvantaged parents in North Wales: perceptions of service users
Authors: Madoc‐Jones Iolo , Warren Emily , Ashdown‐Lambert Joan , Williams Elaine , Parry Odette 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper draws on the findings of a qualitative evaluation to examine user perceptions of a planned telephone support intervention based in a disadvantaged area in North Wales. Telephone support services are tailored differentially to offer information, advice and/or counselling on a crisis‐led or planned‐intervention basis. Research focusing on telephone support, for the most part (and particularly in the UK) has examined crisis‐led as opposed to planned support services. The findings of our study resonate with earlier research findings about telephone support that suggest provision of non‐visual support in social care can overcome some practical and financial difficulties for users with little discernible loss to their experience of satisfaction with the service. In addition, the paper suggests that planned support may provide a valuable service to users who are most disadvantaged and marginalized and who have found traditional forms of support unsatisfactory. For such users, planned telephone support can offer one‐to‐one communication tailored to specific client needs. Moreover, it can enable the development of user trust in the service which empowers users to operationalize strategies in the context of a reliable, sustained, unthreatening (and thus minimal risk) relationship.
Discordance of ZAP‐70 in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: CHAAR B. T. , SCHERGEN A. K. , GROSSO L. E. 
Published: February 2007

SummaryB‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia has a highly variable clinical course with behavior ranging from indolent to aggressive. Identified prognostic markers include IgVH mutational status, and CD38 and ZAP‐70 expression. In several studies, ZAP‐70 expression correlated with IgVH mutational status, and predicted disease progression and overall survival. In addition to its prognostic utility, ZAP‐70 expression was found to be constant over time, and did not vary between peripheral blood, bone marrow or lymph node specimens in individual patients. In contrast to these reports, we present three CLL patients with discordant ZAP‐70 levels. One demonstrated a change in expression with time; the second and third cases had discordant results in blood, lymph node and bone marrow and between blood and bone marrow specimens, respectively, obtained at the same time.
Severe antibody‐mediated agranulocytosis
Authors: JOHNSEN H. , HUSEBEKK A. , SKJELBAKKEN T. 
Published: February 2007

SummaryA 56‐year‐old female with Crohn's disease was admitted to the hospital with malaise, fever, and a low white blood cell count (0.8 × 109/l) with no granulocytes or myeloid precursor cells in the bone marrow. The leucopenia was initially thought to be the result of an infection and she was treated with antibiotics and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF, filgrastim). However, the bacterial cultures and viral tests were all negative. The patient's condition deteriorated and she became morbidly ill, but recovered after high dose steroid treatment. Six weeks later she relapsed whilst receiving 7.5 mg daily dose of prednisolone. She recovered quickly after being given high dose methylprednisolone in combination with filgrastim. A high maintenance dose of prednisolone was tapered over 5 months. She has not relapsed since and is currently well.Antibodies to the human neutrophil antigen (HNA)‐3a were detected, but these antibodies could not easily explain her agranulocytosis as she had a HNA‐3a negative phenotype. It seems plausible that her agranulocytosis was immune mediated through autoantibodies directed towards the early myeloid cells.
Intraspecific variation in avian pectoral muscle mass: constraints on maintaining manoeuvrability with increasing body mass
Authors: DIETZ MAURINE W. , PIERSMA THEUNIS , HEDENSTRÖM ANDERS , BRUGGE MAARTEN 
Published: February 2007

Summary

Within a single year, long‐distance migrants undergo a minimum of four cycles of fuel storage and depletion because their migrations have at least one stopover. Each cycle includes an almost twofold change in body mass (mb). Pervasive predation threats beg the question whether escape flight abilities keep up with such large changes in mb.
We derive aerodynamic predictions how pectoral muscle mass (mpm) should change with mb to maintain constant relative flight power.
We tested these predictions with data on red knot Calidris canutus, a long‐distance migrating wader that breeds in arctic tundra and winters in temperate and tropical coastal areas. We focused on the subspecies C. c. islandica.
m
pm varied with mb in a piecewise manner. In islandica knots with mb ≤ 148 g, the slope (1·06) was indistinguishable from the prediction (1·25). In heavy knots (mb > 148 g) the slope was significantly lower (0·63), yielding a mpm 0·81 times lower than predicted at pre‐departure weights (210 g).
Manoeuvrability tests showed that above 160 g, knots were increasingly unable to make a 90° angle turn. This is consistent with mpm being increasingly smaller than predicted.
Relatively low mpm enables savings on mass and hence flight costs, and savings on overall energy expenditure. We predict that reduced escape flight ability at high mb will be compensated by behavioural strategies to minimize predation risk.
Drought changes phosphorus and potassium accumulation patterns in an evergreen Mediterranean forest
Authors: SARDANS J. , PEÑUELAS J. 
Published: February 2007

Summary

Climate models predict more extreme weather in Mediterranean ecosystems, with more frequent drought periods and torrential rainfall. These expected changes may affect major process in ecosystems such as mineral cycling. However, there is a lack of experimental data regarding the effects of prolonged drought on nutrient cycling and content in Mediterranean ecosystems.
A 6‐year drought manipulation experiment was conducted in a Quercus ilex Mediterranean forest. The aim was to investigate the effects of drought conditions expected to occur over the coming decades, on the contents and concentrations of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in stand biomass, and P and K content and availability in soils.
Drought (an average reduction of 15% in soil moisture) increased P leaf concentration by 18·2% and reduced P wood and root concentrations (30·9% and 39·8%, respectively) in the dominant tree species Quercus ilex, suggesting a process of mobilization of P from wood towards leaves. The decrease in P wood concentrations in Quercus ilex, together with a decrease in forest biomass growth, led to an overall decrease (by approximately one‐third) of the total P content in above‐ground biomass. In control plots, the total P content in the above‐ground biomass increased 54 kg ha−1 from 1999 to 2005, whereas in drought plots there was no increase in P levels in above‐ground biomass. Drought had no effects on either K above‐ground contents or concentrations.
Drought increased total soil soluble P by increasing soil soluble organic P, which is the soil soluble P not directly available to plant capture. Drought reduced the ratio of soil soluble inorganic P : soil soluble organic P by 50% showing a decrease of inorganic P release from P bound to organic matter. Drought increased by 10% the total K content in the soil, but reduced the soil soluble K by 20·4%.
Drought led to diminished plant uptake of mineral nutrients and to greater recalcitrance of minerals in soil. This will lead to a reduction in P and K in the ecosystem, due to losses in P and K through leaching and erosion, if the heavy rainfalls predicted by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) models occur. As P is currently a limiting factor in many Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems, and given that P and K are necessary for high water‐use efficiency and stomata control, the negative effects of drought on P and K content in the ecosystem may well have additional indirect negative effects on plant fitness.