bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Changes in the QRS segment during exercise: effects of acute β‐blockade with propranolol
Authors: Pilhall M. , Riha M. , Jern S. 
Published: April 2008

Summary. Changes in the QRS complex during exercise may provide information with respect to ischaemic heart disease. The intention with present investigation was to shed light on mechanisms behind QRS changes and to study the possibly confounding effects of β‐blockade on such alterations with exercise. Placebo or propranolol respectively was infused in randomized and double‐blinded order in seven young healthy men before a maximum exercise test. Advanced computerized vectorcardiography and impedance cardiography was recorded continuously together with blood pressures and blood samples.The Y‐lead magnitude increased significantly with propranolol infusion (P<0–05), but it tended to decrease in the Z‐lead (P<0.07). While the serum potassium concentrations increased (P< 0.0005), the spatial QRS magnitude tended to decrease irrespective of treatment (P<0.07). These changes correlated with changes in QR‐duration (adj r2>0.58).With exercise, the mean spatial QRS magnitude decreased with similar amounts irrespective of treatment. However, propranolol made the magnitude decrease earlier (P<001). No effect of treatment was detected on the decrease in QRS‐duration.Immediately after exercise, the QRS complex continued to change as during exercise in the placebo investigations, but did not with propranolol (P<0.05). These different patterns were most obvious in the first half of the QRS complex in the Y‐lead.It is concluded that acute β‐blockade modifies QRS alterations both during and after exercise in healthy subjects. This indicates that such drugs may have confounding effects in evaluations of the diagnostic value of QRS alterations.
Repeated measurements of transfer factor in rabbits: an animal model suitable for evaluation of short‐term exposure
Authors: Dahlqvist M. , Lagerstrand L. , Nilsen A. 
Published: April 2008

Summary. Acute temporary changes in lung function may be of use as a biological exposure indicator. However, studies of humans occupationally exposed to complex airborne irritants are often expensive and time demanding. Therefore, an animal model could be a valuable complement. A rabbit model has been evaluated where transfer factor was measured twice during the same day, and with the rabbit awake and available for exposure, in between.Anaesthesia and intubation in 22 rabbits (2–6 [0–2] kg [Mean (SD)]) were immediately followed by two measurements of transfer factor and alveolar volume. Transfer factor was estimated by the single breath CO‐technique used in humans. The samples were analysed for CO and He on a gas chromatograph. After one pair of measurements the rabbit was allowed to wake up and after 5 h the duplicate measurements were repeated.The mean values of transfer factor, alveolar volume and transfer constant were 0–50 (0–09) mmol min‐1 kPa‐1, 127 (8) ml and 3–9 (0–6) mmol min‐1 kPa‐11‐1, respectively. The intraindividual coefficients of variation were 7‐3%, 5‐3% and 6–7%, respectively. Five hours later when the duplicate measurements were repeated, transfer factor, alveolar volume and transfer constant were unchanged still.The results suggest that relatively small changes in transfer factor may be detected without losing power, and thus that this model could be used as a biological exposure indicator.,
Effects of lactate infusion on hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycogenosis
Authors: Haesler E. , Schneiter P. , Temler E. , Jéquier E. , Tappy L. 
Published: April 2008

Summary. Endogenous glucose production rate (EGPR) remains constant when lactate is infused in healthy humans. A decrease of glycogenosis or of gluconeogenesis from endogenous precursors or a stimulation of glycogen synthesis, may all be involved; This autoregulation does not depend on changes in glucoregulatory hormones. It may be speculated that alterations in basal sympathetic tone may be involved.To gain insights into the mechanisms responsible for autoregulation of EGPR, glycogenosis and gluconeogenesis were measured, with a novel method (based on the prelabelling of endogenous glycogen with 13C glucose, and determination of hepatic 13C glycogen enrichment from breath 13CO2 and respiratory gas exchanges) in healthy humans infused with lactate or saline. These measurements were performed with or without β‐adrenergic receptor blockade (propranolol).Infusion of lactate increased energy expenditure, but did not increase EGPR; the relative contributions of gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis to EGPR were also unaltered. This indicates that autoregulation is attained, at least in part, by inhibition of gluconeogenesis from endogenous precursors.3‐adrenergic receptor blockade alone (with propranolol) did not alter EGPR, glycogenolysis or gluconeogenesis. During infusion of lactate, propranolol decreased the thermic effect of lactate but EGPR remained constant. This indicates that alterations of (3‐adrenergic activity is not required for autoregulation of EGPR.
A role for adenosine in coronary vasoregulation in man. Effects of theophylline and enprofylline
Authors: Edlund A. , Conradsson T. , Sollevi A. 
Published: April 2008

Summary. Adenosine has been suggested to have a role in regulation of the tone of the cardiac resistance vessels. To elucidate the coronary vasoregulatory role of endogenous adenosine in man, we studied the effects of adenosine receptor antagonism by theophylline on coronary blood flow at rest and during light exercise. However, theophylline may also exert pharmacological effects not related to adenosine antagonism. To clarify the contribution of endogenous adenosine in coronary hyperaemia, the effect of theophylline was compared to that of enprofylline, a xanthine which exerts similar pharmacological effects as theophylline while lacking antagonistic action at adenosine receptors.Twenty healthy subjects (10 males) aged 22–39 years were examined. Coronary sinus (CS) blood flow and blood oxygen content were determined at rest and during supine bicycle exercise, at a load of 50 watts, for 10 min. Thereafter, stepwise infusion of adenosine (30 to 60 μg/kg/min into the subclavian vein) was performed. Theophylline or enprofylline treatment was instituted randomly and double‐blind (10 in each group), and the procedures (i.e. determinations at rest, during exercise and during infusion of adenosine) were repeated.In all 20 subjects, basal CS flow was 70±6 ml/min and the cardiac oxygen extraction ((A‐CS)O2D) was 123±3 ml/l. During exercise, CS flow and (A‐CS)O2D increased to 135±17 ml/min and 132±3 ml/1, respectively. Adenosine increased CS flow dose dependently to 161 ±27 ml/min, while (A‐CS)O2D decreased to 66±7 ml/1.The vasodilatory effect of adenosine was readily counteracted by theophylline, the increase in CS flow being 33% vs. 133% in the control situation. Enprofylline, on the other hand, enhanced the response to exogenous adenosine.Theophylline, at a dose lacking effect on heart rate and blood pressure, decreased CS flow at rest by 14% (P<0.05) and during exercise by 18% (P<0.05). ((A‐CS)O2D increased by 14% at rest and during exercise (P<0.001). Enprofylline, on the other hand, was without effect. The differences in responses between theophylline and enprofylline with respect to coronary flow and oxygen extraction were significant both at rest and during exercise.It is concluded that theophylline increases coronary vascular resistance, while enpro‐fylline, lacking adenosine antagonistic properties, was without such effect. This indicates a physiological role of adenosine in regulation of coronary flow.
Adiponectin: an intriguing hormone for paediatricians
Authors: Savino F , Petrucci E , Nanni GE 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAdiponectin, a protein hormone produced by adipocytes, is also found in breast milk, which in turn is implicated in childhood obesity prevention. Although a biological role for adiponectin has not been firmly established, clinical and experimental research indicates that it regulates lipid and glucose metabolism, affects foetal development, and exerts anti‐inflammatory and antiatherogenic effects.Conclusion: This review demonstrates an emerging interest of paediatric research on adiponectin. A better understanding of adiponectin's bioactivity might clarify whether breast milk indeed prevents childhood obesity.
DEMINERALIZATION BY ION EXCHANGE OF SLAUGHTERHOUSE PORCINE BLOOD PLASMA
Authors: MOURE F. , DEL HOYO P. , RENDUELES M. , DÍAZ M. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT The blood from slaughterhouses constitutes an important waste from the meat industry because of its high pollutant power. The techniques used to recover blood components, such as proteins for human food, require pretreatments to remove inorganic salts. Cationic and anionic ion exchange resins were used to carry out the demineralization process. Capacity experiments were first conducted in batch to study the performance of the resin, and then the operation was carried out in a fixed bed to simulate an industrial operation. Breakthrough curves for the main cations and anions contained in the plasma were obtained, which showed the good applicability of this operation for demineralizing blood plasma. The loss of protein is always below 9%, being slightly higher in the cationic column, while the variation in pH is also greater in the cationic column, although the changes are not important enough to cause substantial denaturalization of the plasma proteins. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSIon exchange processes are used in food industries in many applications, for instance in sugar production. In this work, the application of ion exchange for the demineralization of blood plasma as a preparative step to the fractionation of the main protein fractions has been demostrated. The results show the potential applicability of the technique, which could be potentially used at the industrial level. The loss of protein in the process is not elevated, and the variation of the pH of the final products is more important in the case of cationic exchange. Ion exchange could be used industrially in the demineralization of other liquid effluents of the food industry containing proteins or other compounds as an operation prior to the preparation of the effluent to separate its components as a first purification step.
Constructions of Islamic Identities in a Suburban Community in Malaysia
Authors:   Sharifah Zaleha Syed Hassan
Published: April 2008

AbstractRapid economic development since the mid-1970s has caused some segments of the Malay intelligentsia in Malaysia to rework aspects of their cultural heritage, in particular, Islamic teachings and philosophy, to create new cultures and new identities. In Sungai Pencala, a suburban Malay community that had undergone considerable social transformation and been exposed to Islamic resurgence, two such tendencies were discernible. The first was associated with the banned Al Arqam movement and the second, with state-sponsored agencies. Proceeding from a conviction that existing identities based on the family, kin groups and locality had to be deconstructed, the Al Arqam movement engaged in a project aimed at forging a group-centred identity through a commune-based living pattern and linking that identity firmly with that of the Middle East. The state's agents, on the other hand, merely sought to modify the existing loyalties so as to produce Malays who would continue to regard the family, community, locality and the nation as important contexts within which they could acquire their ethnic and religious identities. The paper argues that the contrasting tendencies in identity reformulation in Sungai Pencala have much to do with the differences in the way Islam has been used to promote the religiously-expressed interests of certain groups as with the fate of the increasingly differentiated urban-based Malays.
Unpacking the Labels "Hindu" and "Hinduism" in Singapore
Authors: Sinha Vineeta 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper problematizes the taken-for-granted use of the labels "Hindu" and "Hinduism" in accounts of Indian religion and culture, on the premise that these descriptions have histories and are themselves constructions. A term like "Hindu" and its various derivatives (including "Hinduism") have been transformed from their original regional and possibly ethnic meanings to carrying religious substance. More importantly, specific meanings are attributed to these categories, particularly through orientalist and Indological writings, and have structured definitions and empirical interpretations of Indian religiosity. These writings have tended to produce homogeneous, monolithic and essentialist conceptualizations of Hinduism. Relying on ethnography, this paper provides empirical evidence to deconstruct the labels "Hindu" and "Hinduism" and to demonstrate how a complex of meanings can be attached to these labels only by attending to the socio-cultural and political specificities of their context of practice.
The Evolution of Technology Research Management Systems in Japan: Government Laboratories, Private Industry and Universities
Authors: Lapid Koty 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this paper, I describe the development process of "overlapping development models for basic research project management" in Japan during the years 1970-95. I found that Japanese basic research project management models co-evolved through the joint learning of companies, government laboratories and universities. Finally, I present my conclusions and the implications of these management systems for the future development of Japan's technology policy, which includes not just critical technologies, but also the management of the research process.
Urban Developments and Mobility Inequality of the Disadvantaged
Authors: Cho-Yam Lau 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper investigates how the mobility inequality of the disadvantaged is negatively influenced by urban socio-economic and land-use development in Hong Kong. The first part reviews the concepts of equality, mobility and the influence of socio-economic and land-use development on the mobility of the disadvantaged. The latter part investigates mobility provisions of the Mass Transit Railway and bus services by means of route tests. The findings of the route tests show that mobility inequality existed among the disadvantaged and the better-off in Hong Kong. This paper concludes that mobility inequality of the disadvantaged is due to the negative influences of socio-economic and land-use policies and developments.
Challenges to Comparative Research on Intergenerational Transfers
Authors: Hermalin Albert I. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIntergenerational transfers are complex processes involving a potentially large number of participants and a range of content, often subsumed as space, time, or money. Identifying the matrix of providers and recipients associated with each "currency" and distinguishing past from current flows and direct from indirect transfers, pose considerable challenge to any survey instrument. This paper proposes an organizational framework for this multidimensionality and then reviews some of the strategies that have been employed by several surveys in East and Southeast Asia to measure key elements of the process.
Reforming the Old-Age Security System in Vietnam
Authors: Goodkind Daniel ,   Truong Si Anh,   Bui The Cuong
Published: April 2008

AbstractOur paper examines changing systems of state support to the elderly in Vietnam, based primarily on two recent surveys in northern and southern subregions. We focus on the pension system, the most generous source of such support. Prior to 1995, pensions were primarily available to workers in the state sector. The funding system was ostensibly pay-as-you-go, yet heavily reliant on government subsidies. Our surveys reveal distinct regional patterns in the prevalence and size of pensions (as well as age at retirement), patterns we relate to Vietnam's partition and reunification. We then describe recent policy changes enacted as part of Vietnam's transition to a more market-oriented economy. A new Social Security Administration is attempting to extend old age security to employees of non-state enterprises based on enhanced employer contributions and new payroll deductions. We identify ideological, financial and demographic rationales for these reforms as well a variety of challenges to the new system.
"Centrality" and "Balance" in Southeast Asia: Official Ideologies and Regional Crisis
Authors: Douglas Stephen A. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this paper, it is argued that the concepts of "centre" and "balance" have a conspicuous presence in the universe of Southeast Asian political thought and that political practice also displays a strain toward the centre. However, the difference between the two concepts is not merely a matter of semantic interest. During what may come to be recalled as the era of ASEAN's prosperity, most countries' political centres flourished; but in the early phase of the region's "monetary crisis" (a shorthand expression for a convergence of destabilizing events), it is already apparent that "balance" is being trumped by attempts to hold the "centre(s)". These attempts are not encouraging. Just when it was becoming possible to imagine a regional political centre, the region has embarked upon a complex, extensive unravelling, a de-centring of unknown proportions.
ASEAN 10: The Political and Cultural Dimensions of Southeast Asian Unity
Authors: Vatikiotis Michael R. J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this essay, it is argued that the roots of regional cohesion in Southeast Asia have always been rather shallow, and driven primarily by pragmatic security concerns. The primary function of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been to strengthen and preserve the sovereignty of individual states, and not dissolve boundaries or fashion a supra-national identity. ASEAN's very success has nevertheless fostered more idealistic notions of regional identity, expressed as a form of collective nationalism. As ASEAN expands, this imagined Southeast Asian identity must compete with internal and external factors forcing the region apart as fast as it is coming together. And thus, while the world as a whole increasingly accepts the new habits of global civilization, another contradictory process is taking place: ancient traditions are reviving, different religions and cultures are awakening to new ways of being, seeking new room to exist and struggling with growing fervour to realize what is unique to them and makes them different from others (Vaclav Havel, 1995).
Unveiling Masculinity
Authors: Glancy Jennifer A. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMark's account of the execution of John the Baptist offers an occasion to raise questions about understandings of gender both in the ancient world and today. Whether or not Mark demonizes women and their capacity for power may be an undecidable question; we can more certainly establish that modern readers have offered interpretations molded by their own fears about female subjectivity. These assumptions have equally infected scholarly and popular interpretations, obscuring the boundary between the two. This paper pursues two major lines of inquiry. First, it explores assumptions about gender, especially masculinity, that shape Mark 6:17-29. Second, it highlights tendencies in late nineteenth and twentieth century thinking about gender to show how these tendencies overdetermine readings of the Markan text.
Neue Und Alte Wege Der Psalmenexegese Antworten Auf Die Fragen Von M. Millard Und R. Rendtorff
Authors: Zenger Erich , Hossfeld Frank-Lothar 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDas Psalmenbuch ist eine Komposition sui generis. Einerseits präsentiert es sich als eine Zusammenstellung von 150 Einzelpsalmen, die als solche entstanden sind und gelesen werden wollen. Andererseits gibt es zahlreiche Indizien dafür, daß diese 150 Einzeltexte in kleineren und/oder größeren kompositionellen Zusammenhängen stehen. Um diese von Redaktionen intendierten Zusammenhänge textgemäβ zu erfassen, müssen synchrone und diachrone Analysemethoden kombiniert werden. Der formgeschichtliche Ansatz kann dabei nur eine sekundäre Funktion übernehmen, da die meisten Psalmen nachkultische Dichtungen sind und weil der Psalter nicht als "Kultbuch" entstanden ist. Von besonderer Bedeutung für die Rekonstruktion der Entstehungsgeschichte der Teilsammlungen und des Gesamtpsalters sind sozialgeschichtliche und intertextuelle Fragestellungen.
The Quest of the New Historicist Jesus
Authors: Moore Stephen D. , Graham Susan Lochrie 
Published: April 2008

AbstractOur ambition in this article is to use the New Historicism as a spade with which to open up the grave where John Dominic Crossan's historical Jesus was unceremoniously dumped, exhuming certain asumptions buried there in the process. As we dig and sieve the contents of this burial site ("Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here"), we uncover a rock-hewn tomb from which to summon a shadowy protean figure shrouded in contingencya New Historicist Jesus.
Blanks and Gaps in the Markan Parable of the Sower
Authors: Marcus Joel 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDavid Stern has helpfully applied to rabbinic parables Meir Sternberg's distinction between a "blank," an accidental transmission of confusing narrative signals, and a "gap," a deliberate ambiguity in a narrative. This distinction may also be applied to Mark. The confusing stage directions of chapter 4, for example, are a blank, whereas the failure to explain why Jesus forbids publicity about himself is a gap. The Parable of the Sower provides an example of both types of ambiguity. The identity of the seed is a blank; 4:14 explicitly identifies it as the word, but 4:15-20 implies that it is the people who hear the word, a confusion which may partly reflect different history-of-religions backgrounds. The failure to identify the sower, on the other hand, is a gap. Various narrative signals suggest that he is God, Christ, or the Christian preacher. It would help, in trying to decide between these possibilities, if one knew whether his sowing technique was logical or illogical, but that is another blank or gap. Mark probably wants the reader to conclude that the sower is all three of the figures suggested; "the word" is at one and the same time the word of God, the word of Jesus, and the word of the Christians. This sort of composite identity corresponds to apocalyptic thinking: speech is not a simple, autonomous human action, but a complex event in which human and supernatural factors are inextricably mixed up together.
Rethinking Historical Criticism
Authors: Dobbs-Allsopp F.W. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe present paper seeks to provide a programmatic introduction to some of the major themes of historicist literary study and to explore how this body of work may help biblical scholars rethink historical criticism as a specifically literary method of study and reading. It advocates a program of literary study in which biblical historical criticism, with its strong insistence on the need to historicize and with the various philological practices which it uses to accomplish this feat of historicization, continues to play a central and essential role, but recognizes, as well, the pressing need to rethink and to retheorize the objectivist and foundationalist assumptions which have informed and motivated historical-critical practices in the past, and to facilitate the integration of the full panoply of literary methods, theories, and strategies of reading currently employed by literary scholars.