bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Anticardiolipin antibodies and acute alcoholic intoxication
Authors: Biron C. , Lalloyer N. , Tonnelot J.L. , Larget D. , Gris J.C. , Schved J.F. 
Published: November 2007

Many clinical features have been associated with the antiphospholipid antibodies. In a preliminary prospective study, among 1014 consecutive patients admitted to a Medicine Department, 72 (7.1%) patients were found to be anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) positive. Eight ( 11 %) of these aCL positive patients had alcoholic intoxication. Chronic alcoholism is known to be associated with a high prevalence of autoimmune disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of aCL in patients with acute alcoholic intoxication. Sixty two patients (13 women; 49 men), mean age 35 years (range 17-63 years) referred to the emergency care unit were studied. A control population of 62 apparently healthy subjects, age and sex matched, were also tested. Alcoholaemia, aCL, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and Treponema pallidum immobilisation (TPHA) were determined. The mean alcoholaemia among all patients tested was 2.35 g l-1 (range 0.1-4). aCL were found positive in 10 patients (16%); eight men and two women. Seven patients had aCL IgG level of ≥ 15 UG PL/ml while two had IgM level of ≥ 12.5 UMPL/ml. One had both elevated aCL IgG and IgM. Statistical analysis confirmed that aCL positivity is more frequently encountered in alcoholic patients compared with an age and sex matched population (P = 0.0298). Among alcoholic patients, 12 (19%) had ANA. Four of them were VDRL positive while all were TPHA negative. Two of the 62 control subjects were found aCL positive. From these data, it can be concluded that increased aCL levels are frequently associated with acute alcoholic abuse.
The effect of OM-89 (SUBREUM®) on the murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus MRL-lpr/lpr
Authors: Dhaher YY , Khamashta MA , Hartley B. , Taub N. , Farine JC , Hughes Grv 
Published: November 2007

OM-89 (Subreum®), an E. coli extract, is used clinically in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, the authors examined the effect of OM-89 on some aspects of SLE in the murine model MRL-lpr/lpr. Animals were given OM-89 orally at a dose of 400 mg/kg weight (40 mg active substance) 5 d a week from six weeks old. It was found that mice receiving the drug reached the point of 55% (6/11) survival at the age of 33 weeks compared with 27 weeks for the control group (54%; 7/13). There was a significant increase in the delay before developing alopecia in the treated group ( P < 0.01). The increase in proteinuria in the control group was significantly higher than in the treated group ( P < 0.03). In a second set of experiments sacrificing the animals at week 22, a significant decrease in anti-dsDNA auto-antibodies was also found in the treated group ( P < 0.05), histopathologically a less severe tubular destruction in the kidney was observed in the treated group. It can be concluded that the oral treatment of OM-89 can significantly reduce the severity of SLE in this strain of mice. It can be postulated that the administration of the bacterial extract could modulate the immune response, modifying the Th1 and Th2 balance and inducing oral tolerance.
The Right to Touch and Be Touched
Authors: Routasalo Pirkko , Isola Arja 
Published: November 2007

Touching is an integral part of human behaviour; from the moment of birth until they die, people need to be touched and to touch others. Touching is an intimate action that implies an invasion of the individual's personal, private space. In ethical terms, the ques tion of touching is closely related to the patient's right to integrity and inviolability. The purpose of this study was to describe touching as it is experienced by elderly patients and nurses in long-term care. Touching was approached as a form of commu nication and as an important part of nursing practice. The participants, 25 patients and 30 nurses, were interviewed using a semistructured schedule. The data were analysed using the method of content analysis. The patients experienced touching by nurses as gentle, comforting and important. The nurses, for their part, experienced touching by patients as easy and natural. The patients rarely touched nurses more than was neces sary. In some cases, nurses had to cope with violent touching by patients. Some women nurses interpreted touches by male patients as having a sexual nature and as annoying. This had taught male patients to avoid touching nurses. On the other hand, friendly and grateful touches by patients were very important to nurses. When used for emotional purposes only, touching presupposed a good relationship between nurses and their patients. Although touching is extremely common in nursing practice, there has been very little research into its meaning. More work is therefore needed to explore the role and meaning of touching in nursing.
Between remission and cure: patients, practitioners and the transformation of leukaemia in the late twentieth century
Authors: Barnes Emm 
Published: November 2007

Objectives: During the course of the 1960s and 1970s, acute leukaemia in childhood ceased to be invariably fatal and was recategorized as curable. The meaning of cure in this case, however, was problematic, as it was impossible for physicians to be certain that cancer would not return. This paper uses historical methods to explore how remission was understood by families with children with acute leukaemia during the period in which the first cures were announced, roughly 1972—77. Methods: These comprised documentary analysis of records of the Medical Research Council's leukaemia working parties, published papers and letters on treatments for childhood leukaemia, and interviews with eight UK paediatric oncologists practising in UK hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. Results: Two approaches to defining `cure' in leukaemia can be identified. The first relied on statistical assessment of survival rates. I argue that the concept of `indefinite remission' came to serve for researchers and clinicians as a proxy measure of cure. However, the concept of `indefinite remission' left many patients and their families quite uncertain as to whether a cure had really happened. A second approach to defining cure therefore developed. Faced with uncertainty, patients, parents and psychologists sought to develop alternative measures of success — including the notion of `psychological cure' — that brought forward the moment of cure and its relief. Conclusions: Changing conceptualizations of leukaemia shaped and were shaped by negotiations over the meaning of `remission' and `cure'. On the one hand, the statistical definition of cure was not available for years. On the other hand, psychological cure could begin from the time of first remission, even if medical absolution was not available for years.
NSOM/QD-based nanoscale immunofluorescence imaging of antigen-specific T-cell receptor responses during an in vivo clonal Vγ2Vδ2 T-cell expansion
Authors: Chen Yong , Shao Lingyun , Ali Zahida , Cai Jiye , Chen Zheng W. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractNanoscale imaging of an in vivo antigen-specific T-cell immune response has not been reported. Here, the combined near-field scanning optical microscopy– and fluorescent quantum dot–based nanotechnology was used to perform immunofluorescence imaging of antigen-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) response in an in vivo model of clonal T-cell expansion. The near-field scanning optical microscopy/quantum dot system provided a best-optical-resolution (<50 nm) nano-scale imaging of Vγ2Vδ2 TCR on the membrane of nonstimulated Vγ2Vδ2 T cells. Before Ag-induced clonal expansion, these nonstimulating Vγ2Vδ2 TCRs appeared to be distributed differently from their αβ TCR counterparts on the cell surface. Surprisingly, Vγ2Vδ2 TCR nanoclusters not only were formed but also sustained on the membrane during an in vivo clonal expansion of Vγ2Vδ2 T cells after phosphoantigen treatment or phosphoantigen plus mycobacterial infection. The TCR nanoclusters could array to form nanodomains or microdomains on the membrane of clonally expanded Vγ2Vδ2 T cells. Interestingly, expanded Vγ2Vδ2 T cells bearing TCR nanoclusters or nanodomains were able to rerecognize phosphoantigen and to exert better effector function. These studies provided nanoscale insight into the in vivo T-cell immune response.
Dynamic simulation of regulatory networks using SQUAD
Authors: Di Cara Alessandro , Garg Abhishek , De Micheli Giovanni , Xenarios Ioannis , Mendoza Luis 
Published: November 2007

Abstract

Background
The ambition of most molecular biologists is the understanding of the intricate network of molecular interactions that control biological systems. As scientists uncover the components and the connectivity of these networks, it becomes possible to study their dynamical behavior as a whole and discover what is the specific role of each of their components. Since the behavior of a network is by no means intuitive, it becomes necessary to use computational models to understand its behavior and to be able to make predictions about it. Unfortunately, most current computational models describe small networks due to the scarcity of kinetic data available. To overcome this problem, we previously published a methodology to convert a signaling network into a dynamical system, even in the total absence of kinetic information. In this paper we present a software implementation of such methodology.

Results
We developed SQUAD, a software for the dynamic simulation of signaling networks using the standardized qualitative dynamical systems approach. SQUAD converts the network into a discrete dynamical system, and it uses a binary decision diagram algorithm to identify all the steady states of the system. Then, the software creates a continuous dynamical system and localizes its steady states which are located near the steady states of the discrete system. The software permits to make simulations on the continuous system, allowing for the modification of several parameters. Importantly, SQUAD includes a framework for perturbing networks in a manner similar to what is performed in experimental laboratory protocols, for example by activating receptors or knocking out molecular components. Using this software we have been able to successfully reproduce the behavior of the regulatory network implicated in T-helper cell differentiation.

Conclusion
The simulation of regulatory networks aims at predicting the behavior of a whole system when subject to stimuli, such as drugs, or determine the role of specific components within the network. The predictions can then be used to interpret and/or drive laboratory experiments. SQUAD provides a user-friendly graphical interface, accessible to both computational and experimental biologists for the fast qualitative simulation of large regulatory networks for which kinetic data is not necessarily available.
Antihyperlipemic and antihypertensive effects of Spirulina maxima in an open sample of mexican population: a preliminary report
Authors: Torres-Duran Patricia V. , Ferreira-Hermosillo Aldo , Juarez-Oropeza Marco A. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract

Background

Spirulina maxima is a filamentous cyanobacterium used as food supplement because of its high nutrient contents. It has been experimentally proven, in vivo and in vitro that posses several pharmacological properties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Spirulina maxima orally supplied (4.5 g/day, for 6 weeks) to a sample of 36 subjects (16 men and 20 women, with ages between 18–65 years) on serum lipids, glucose, aminotransferases and on blood pressure. The volunteers did not modify their dietary habits or lifestyle during the whole experimental period. From each subject, a sample of blood was drawn in fasting state of 12 hours to determi the plasma concentrations of glucose, triacylglycerols (TAG), total cholesterol (TC), cholesterol associated to high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Anthropometric measurements including systolic (SYST-P) and diastolic (DIAST-P) blood pressure, height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) were also recorded.

Results
Comparing initial and final data, the results showed that there were no significant changes in the values of glucose and AST, but significant differences in TAG, TC, and HDL-C, were observed: TAG 233.7 ± 177.8 vs. 167.7 ± 100.7 mg/dL (p < 0.001), TC 181.7 ± 37.5 vs. 163.5 ± 34.4 mg/dL (p < 0.001), C-HDL 43.5 ± 14.4 vs. 50 ± 18.8 mg/dL (p < 0.01). The univariated analysis showed that the changes in the HDL-C and TC concentrations were dependent on TAG concentration (p = 0.247 and p = 0.108, respectively); nevertheless the calculated values for cholesterol associated to low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) were significantly reduced by the Spirulina maxima treatment but independently of the TAG changes. In addition, significant differences were found comparing initial and final SYST-P and DIAST-P blood pressure in both male and female: SYST-P male 121 ± 9 vs. 111 ± 8 mm Hg (p < 0.01), DIAST-P male 85 ± 6.5 vs. 77 ± 9 mm Hg (p < 0.01); SYST-P female 120 ± 9.5 vs. 109 ± 11 mm Hg (p < 0.002), DIAST-P female 85 ± 11 vs. 79 ± 7.5 mm Hg (p < 0.03).

Conclusion
The Spirulina maxima showed a hypolipemic effect, especially on the TAG and the LDL-C concentrations but indirectly on TC and HDL-C values. It also reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Clusters of orthologous genes for 41 archaeal genomes and implications for evolutionary genomics of archaea
Authors: Makarova Kira S , Sorokin Alexander V , Novichkov Pavel S , Wolf Yuri I , Koonin Eugene V 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackgroundAn evolutionary classification of genes from sequenced genomes that distinguishes between orthologs and paralogs is indispensable for genome annotation and evolutionary reconstruction. Shortly after multiple genome sequences of bacteria, archaea, and unicellular eukaryotes became available, an attempt on such a classification was implemented in Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs). Rapid accumulation of genome sequences creates opportunities for refining COGs but also represents a challenge because of error amplification. One of the practical strategies involves construction of refined COGs for phylogenetically compact subsets of genomes.ResultsNew Archaeal Clusters of Orthologous Genes (arCOGs) were constructed for 41 archaeal genomes (13 Crenarchaeota, 27 Euryarchaeota and one Nanoarchaeon) using an improved procedure that employs a similarity tree between smaller, group-specific clusters, semi-automatically partitions orthology domains in multidomain proteins, and uses profile searches for identification of remote orthologs. The annotation of arCOGs is a consensus between three assignments based on the COGs, the CDD database, and the annotations of homologs in the NR database. The 7538 arCOGs, on average, cover ~88% of the genes in a genome compared to a ~76% coverage in COGs. The finer granularity of ortholog identification in the arCOGs is apparent from the fact that 4538 arCOGs correspond to 2362 COGs; ~40% of the arCOGs are new. The archaeal gene core (protein-coding genes found in all 41 genome) consists of 166 arCOGs. The arCOGs were used to reconstruct gene loss and gene gain events during archaeal evolution and gene sets of ancestral forms. The Last Archaeal Common Ancestor (LACA) is conservatively estimated to possess 996 genes compared to 1245 and 1335 genes for the last common ancestors of Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, respectively. It is inferred that LACA was a chemoautotrophic hyperthermophile that, in addition to the core archaeal functions, encoded more idiosyncratic systems, e.g., the CASS systems of antivirus defense and some toxin-antitoxin systems.ConclusionThe arCOGs provide a convenient, flexible framework for functional annotation of archaeal genomes, comparative genomics and evolutionary reconstructions. Genomic reconstructions suggest that the last common ancestor of archaea might have been (nearly) as advanced as the modern archaeal hyperthermophiles. ArCOGs and related information are available at:ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/koonin/arCOGs/.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Peer Bork, Patrick Forterre, and Purificacion Lopez-Garcia.
Vitamin C-induced hyperoxaluria causing reversible tubulointerstitial nephritis and chronic renal failure: a case report
Authors: Rathi Shradha , Kern William , Lau Kai 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Vitamin C is a precursor of oxalate and promoter of its absorption, potentially causing hyperoxaluria. Malabsorption causes Calcium (Ca) chelation with fatty acids, producing enteric hyperoxaluria.

Case

A 73-year-old man with both risk factors was hospitalized with serum creatinine of 8.4 mg/dL (versus 1.2 mg/dL four months earlier) (normal 0.6–1.3 mg/dL). Given his oxalate-rich diet, chronic diarrhea, and daily 680 mg vitamin C and furosemide, we postulated Ca oxalate-induced nephropathy, a diagnosis confirmed by documenting hyperoxaluria, and finding of diffuse intraluminal crystals and extensive interstitial fibrosis on biopsy. He was hemodialysed 6 times to remove excess oxalate. Two weeks off vitamin C, his creatinine spontaneously fell to 3.1 mg/dL. Three months later, on low oxalate diet and 100 mg vitamin B6, urine oxalate to creatinine ratio decreased from 0.084 to 0.02 (normal < 0.035), while creatinine fell and stayed at 1.8 mg/dL.

Conclusion

1) High-dose vitamin C can induce hyperoxaluric nephropathy and progressive renal failure, especially if aggravated by diarrhea, oxalate-rich diet, metabolic acidosis, and dehydration. 2) The diagnosis should be suspected in unexplained renal insufficiency when associated with these risk factors. 3) Since prompt treatment could avert end-stage renal disease, we recommend monitoring urinary oxalate in patients on high-dose vitamin C and renal biopsy if necessary.
Aqueous Aluminum Nanofluid Combustion in Diesel Fuel
Authors: Kao Mu-Jung , Ting Chen-Ching , Lin Bai-Fu , Tsung Tsing-Tshih 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
This paper presents a significant chemical reaction of hydrogen combustion during aqueous aluminum nanofluid combustion in diesel fuel. The results show that hydrogen burns in a diesel engine in the presence of an active aqueous aluminum nanofluid. The nano particles are made by applying a plasma arc to aluminum nanopowder submerged in water. The average diameter of the aluminum nanoparticles is about 40–60 nm and they are covered with thin layers of aluminum oxide due to the high oxidation activity of pure aluminum. This provides a large contact surface area with water and high activity for the decomposition of hydrogen from water during the combustion process. During combustion the alumina serves as a catalyst and the coated aluminum nanoparticles are denuded and decompose the water to yield the hydrogen. The combustion of the diesel fuel mixed with aqueous aluminum nanofluid shows the following phenomena: total combustion heat increases while the concentration of smoke and nitrous oxide in the exhaust emission from diesel engine are decreased.
“Five Hundred a Year and a Room of One's Own”
Authors: Bone Christopher 
Published: November 2007

In 1934, There appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature a poem entitled, “Audenspender.”A new double-enderIs Auden and Spender:Or, beggin' your pawdon,Is Spender and Auden.A team out of Oxon.,Like anti and toxin,But damned hard to renderIs Auden, is Spender.Their captains forsaken—Pound, Eliot, Aiken—They fire at us broad on,Do Spender and Auden.The gray-bearded trio,Remote now as LeoFor guts, glue and gender,Read Auden and Spender.Old seethings are seetherIn both or in either,When new strings are sawed onBy Spenderized Auden.There's treason, there's terror,Love, reason, and error:You'd toughen the tender,O Audenized Spender!In one or the otherIt's poetry, brother:The best bones are knawed onBy Spender, by Auden.Have you a rheumaticOld aunt in the attic?God save her, defend her,From Auden and SpenderIndeed, the two Oxford poets, W. H. Auden and Stephen Spender, became acknowledged leaders of a “movement” in English poetry in the 1930's. Other writers associated with the “movement” were Michael Roberts, John Lehmann, Rex Warner, Julian Symons, William Empson, William Plomer, Julian Bell, Charles Madge, Cecil Day Lewis, Louis MacNeice, Edward Upward, and Christopher Isherwood. The “movement,” whose members were variously appelled the “Thirties poets,” the “new poets,” the “Oxford Group,” and the “New Signatures poets,” was not an organized, formal movement and its so-called members did not consider themselves a “school” of poets and not all of them went to Oxford.
St. Anselm: Reluctant Archbishop?
Authors: Vaughn Sally M. 
Published: November 2007

In 1079, a few months after his consecration as abbot of Bec, St. Anselm set off for England to look after the abbey's lands there. In the course of his journey he stopped to visit Lanfranc, his predecessor as prior of Bec and now archbishop of Canterbury. Milo Crispin reports that when Anselm was returning to bed one night after Matins he found a gold ring in his possession. Crossing himself to determine whether it was some kind of vision sent by the devil to tempt him, he found that the ring was no illusion. After showing it to all the officials of Christ Church, Canterbury, and failing to find the owner, he sold it, giving the proceeds to the Christ Church monks. Lanfranc, hearing the story, interpreted it as a sign that Anselm would one day succeed him as archbishop just as Anselm had earlier succeeded him as prior of Bec.Some years later, when the archbishopric was offered to Anselm, he pubicly opposed the appointment, repeatedly denying that he desired the office, and writing numerous letters refuting allegations that he was guilty of cupidity. Modern scholars, taking Anselm's protestations at face value, have cast him as a reluctant archbishop who would have preferred the quiet life at Bec to the storm at Canterbury. But is their conclusion necessarily true? Reluctance to assume important prelacies was an old medieval tradition, and one that Anselm evidently followed. An Anglo-Norman bishopric was a high and lucrative political position, often given as a reward for service to the king or duke. It was eagerly sought by careerists who desired to enrich themselves with the substantial lands and incomes that accompanied the episcopal office. The archbishopric of Canberbury was not only the highest prelacy in England, but one of the kingdom's three richest fiefs, lay or ecclesiastical. For Anselm to express a desire for such an office would be to compromise his saintly reputation and to cast himself in the mold of an ambitious courtier rather than as a servant of the Church. But certain of An-selm's actions suggest that in fact he aspired to the archbishopric, expecting to fulfil Lanfranc's prophecy and, as Milo Crispin implies, to follow in his footsteps.