bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin II and angiotensin II receptor blocker modulate the arrhythmogenic activity of pulmonary veins
Authors: Chen Yi‐Jen , Chen Yao‐Chang , Tai Ching‐Tai , Yeh Hung‐I , Lin Cheng‐I , Chen Shih‐Ann 
Published: November 2005

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (AIIRBs) have been shown to prevent atrial fibrillation. The pulmonary veins (PVs) are the most important focus for the generation of atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether angiotensin II or AIIRB may change the arrhythmogenic activity of the PVs.Conventional microelectrodes and whole‐cell patch clamps were used to investigate the action potentials (APs) and ionic currents in isolated rabbit PV tissue and single cardiomyocytes before and after administering angiotensin II or losartan (AIIRB).In the tissue preparations, angiotensin II induced delayed after‐depolarizations (1, 10, and 100 nM) and accelerated the automatic rhythm (10 and 100 nM). Angiotensin II (100 nM) prolonged the AP duration and increased the contractile force (10 and 100 nM). Losartan (1 and 10 μM) inhibited the automatic rhythm. Losartan (10 μM) prolonged the AP duration and reduced the contractile force (1 and 10 μM).Angiotensin II reduced the transient outward potassium current (Ito) but increased the L‐type calcium, delayed rectifier potassium (IK), transient inward (Iti), pacemaker, and Na+–Ca2+exchanger (NCX) currents in the PV cardiomyocytes. Losartan decreased theIto,IK,Iti, and NCX currents.In conclusion, angiotensin II and AIIRB modulate the PV electrical activity, which may play a role in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation.British Journal of Pharmacology(2006)147, 12–22. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706445
Human colonic myocytes are involved in postischemic inflammation through ADAM17‐dependent TNFα production
Authors: Jarry Anne , Bach‐Ngohou Kalyane , Masson Damien , Dejoie Thomas , Lehur Paul‐Antoine , Mosnier Jean‐François , Denis Marc G , Laboisse Christian L 
Published: November 2005

The aim of this study was to identify human colonic resident cells able to initiate an inflammatory response in postischemic injury.
Postischemic colonic injury, a condition relevant to various clinical settings, involves an inflammatory cascade in intestinal tissues through the recruitment of circulating inflammatory cells. However, there is no information on the nature of resident cells of the different intestinal layers able to initiate a postischemic inflammatory response. It is however an important issue in the context of a pharmacological approach of the early phase of intestinal ischemia.
We reasoned that maintaining the different colonic layers as explant cultures in an oxygenated medium immediately after colonic resection, that is, after an ischemic period, would allow one to identify the resident cells able to initiate an inflammatory cascade, without interference of recruited inflammatory/immune cells. To this end, we designed an explant culture system that operationally defines three compartments in surgical specimens of the human colon, based on the microdissected layers, that is, mucosa, submucosa (containing muscularis mucosae) and muscularis propria. To validate the results obtained in explant cultures in the clinical setting of ischemic colitis, eight cases of sigmoid volvulus were examined.
Only the myocytes‐containing explants produced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), via an ADAM17 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase‐17)‐dependent pathway, as shown by the abrogation of TNFα production by the inhibitor Tapi‐2. Immunofluorescence studies identified nonvascular and vascular myocytes as resident cells coexpressing TNFα and ADAM17, both in our postischemic explant system and in surgical specimens from ischemic colitis patients. Finally, time‐course experiments on explanted tissues showed that TNFα production by myocytes was an early event triggered by a postischemic oxidative stress involving nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB).
In conclusion, this study identifies human intestinal myocytes as resident cells able to initiate an inflammatory reaction through TNFα production in postischemic conditions, and delineates two points of control in TNFα production, NF‐κB and ADAM17, which can be targeted by pharmacological manipulation.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2006) 147, 64–72. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706449
Military influence upon the development of anaesthesia from the American Civil War (1861–1865) to the outbreak of the First World War
Authors: Metcalfe N. H. 
Published: November 2005

SummaryThe American Civil War (1861–1865) helped cement the place of anaesthesia in American medical practice and offered new insights into the speciality. The advantages that ensued were to offer long‐term security to anaesthesia but the short‐term gains were negligible. The Franco‐Prussian War (1870–1871) exerted a negative influence upon nitrous oxide and oxygen research through the loss of leading civilian scientists to military duty. Later, the Boer Wars (1899–1902) helped stabilise the popularity of chloroform after the Hyderabad Commissions but were of little experimental value to anaesthesia. In the early 20th Century, the military continued to be operational without either specialist anaesthetists or an interest in developing military anaesthesia. However, the lack of anaesthetic development was largely due to problems with economics and academic infrastructure rather than to simple military neglect.
Repeated‐dose effects of mequitazine, cetirizine and dexchlorpheniramine on driving and psychomotor performance
Authors: Theunissen Eef L. , Vermeeren Annemiek , Ramaekers Johannes G. 
Published: November 2005

AimsPrevious studies have demonstrated that the antihistamines mequitazine, cetirizine and dexchlorpheniramine produce mild sedation after single doses. It is unknown, however, whether acute sedation persists after repeated dosing. Therefore, this study assessed the effects of repeated dosing of these antihistamines on driving and psychomotor performance.MethodsSixteen healthy volunteers were treated with mequitazine 10 mg q.a.m., cetirizine 10 mg q.a.m., dexchlorpheniramine Repetab 6 mg b.i.d. and placebo for four separate 8‐day periods. Drug effects were assessed on days 1 and 8 using on‐the‐road driving tests (highway driving and car following), psychomotor tests (tracking and divided attention) and subjective questionnaires.ResultsDexchlorpheniramine and mequitazine significantly impaired driving performance on the highway driving test on the first day; dexchlorpheniramine increased Standard Deviation of Lateral Position by 2 cm [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5, 3.8] and mequitazine by 2.5 cm (CI 1.0, 4.3). These effects on driving performance disappeared after 8 days of treatment. No effect of treatment was found on car following, tracking and divided attention. Although subjective ratings confirmed that subjects knew their driving had been impaired in the mequitazine and dexchlorpheniramine condition after completion of the highway driving test on day 1, they did not expect their driving to be affected before the start of the test. Cetirizine did not impair performance on any of the tests.ConclusionsSingle doses of mequitazine 10 mg and dexchlorpheniramine Repetab 6 mg cause mild driving impairment. However, when taken over several days, the impairing effect wears off, possibly as a result of tolerance.
Adult persons with intellectual disabilities on the island of Ireland
Authors: McConkey R. , Mulvany F. , Barron S. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractBackground  Information on the numbers of adult persons (aged 20 years and over) with intellectual disability (ID) is rarely collated at a national level. This is an impediment to service planning especially for a changing population.Methods  A database of all persons in receipt of ID services has been operating in the Republic of Ireland since 1995. In Northern Ireland, regional databases can be used to provide similar information.Results  A total of 25 134 persons were known to services in 2002; an overall prevalence for the island of 6.34 per 1000. However this rate varied for different age groupings and across the two parts of the island. General population characteristics, as well as service factors, appear to account for this. Significantly more people lived with family carers in Northern Ireland. By 2021, it was estimated that the population would increase by over 20% with around one‐third of persons aged over 50 years.Conclusions  These data illustrate the variations that exist in the numbers of adult persons with ID known to services across and within regions of a country. Hence caution must be exercised in extrapolating prevalence rates derived in one area to another. The availability of comparative national data highlights issues around the equitable funding and delivery of services.
Living conditions of adults with intellectual disabilities from a gender perspective
Authors: Umb‐Carlsson Õ. , Sonnander K. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractBackground The role of gender has been a neglected issue in research on intellectual disability (ID). People with ID are generally treated as a homogenous group that are largely categorized by their level of ID. This study compared living conditions of women and men with ID and related the results to similarities and differences among the general population in corresponding age groups.Methods Persons with ID born in Uppsala County between 1959 and 1974 constituted the study sample. Information on the living conditions of 110 persons with ID was collected using questionnaires completed by relatives and staff. Information on living conditions of the general population was obtained through national welfare statistics conducted by Statistics Sweden (SCB).Results In both samples corresponding diversities were revealed for type of employment/daily activities, where women worked in traditional female job sectors and men were occupied with traditional male jobs. Women and men with ID participated to about the same extent in recreational and cultural activities and on only four of the 19 activities listed in the questionnaire (visits to the cinema and library, reading books and practising hobbies alone) significant differences were observed. Among women and men in the general population, we found gender‐related differences in 13 of the activities listed. However, with the exception of women more frequently visiting the library and reading books, the two samples demonstrated no corresponding gender‐related differences. For the remaining six domains (finances, family and social relations, housing, transport, community participation and personal safety), no differences were noted between women and men with ID. This finding contrasted sharply with the differences found between women and men in the general population.Conclusions Surprisingly, the comparison yielded few differences in living conditions between women and men with ID compared with those found in women and men of the general population. This finding suggests that people with ID were treated as gender‐neutral persons rather than as women and men with individual preferences and needs. Thus, it appears that having ID is a more important determinant than gender regarding living conditions for women and men with ID.
A cross‐sectional multivariate analysis of children's attitudes towards disabilities
Authors: Nowicki E. A. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractBackground  Past research has shown that children can be biased against peers with disabilities, but the association of attitudes with gender, age and disability preferences, as well as interactions between these variables, are unclear. The objectives of this study were to examine these issues in a cross‐sectional, split‐plot study to clarify: (1) if elementary school children's attitudes towards peers with disabilities are related to age, gender and type of disability; (2) if interactions between these variables exist; and (3) if convergent validity could be achieved across three theoretically linked dependent variables.Methods  One hundred elementary school children between 4 and 10 years old were assessed for attitudes towards target children with no disability, a physical or an intellectual disability, and a combined intellectual/physical disability. Measures were completed in an interview format.Results  Attitudes towards a target child with physical disabilities and a target child without disabilities did not differ. There was a significant interaction for age and disability. Attitudes towards target children with intellectual and intellectual/physical disabilities were negatively biased, and were negatively associated with age. Results were consistent across measures except for a main effect of gender in one measure and a gender by age interaction in another.Conclusions  Children's attitudes appear to be associated with several factors, including age and the presence or absence of disability. Gender differences in attitudes may be because of gender‐based response biases rather than disability biases. Because of the multifaceted nature of childhood attitudes, cross‐sectional designs with several dependent and independent variables provide an opportunity to examine consistency of results across measures and potential interactions between factors that may not be uncovered when variables are examined in isolation.
MazG – a regulator of programmed cell death in Escherichia coli
Authors: Gross Miryam , Marianovsky Irina , Glaser Gad 
Published: November 2005

SummaryWe have previously reported that mazEF, the first regulatable chromosomal ‘addiction module’ located on the Escherichia coli chromosome, downstream from the relA gene, plays a crucial role in the programmed cell death in bacteria under stressful conditions. It consists of a pair of genes encoding a stable toxin, MazF, and MazE, a labile antitoxin interacting with MazF to form a complex. The cellular target of MazF toxin was recently described to be cellular mRNA, which is degraded by this toxin. On the same operon, downstream to the mazEF genes, we found another open reading frame, which was called mazG. Recently, it was shown that the MazG protein has a nucleotide pyrophosphohydrolase activity. Here we show that mazG is being transcribed in the same polycistronic mRNA with mazEF. We also show that the enzymatic activity of MazG is inhibited by MazEF proteins. When the complex MazEF was added, the enzymatic activity of MazG was about 70% inhibited. We demonstrate that the enzymatic activity of MazG in vivo causes depletion of guanosine 3′,5′‐bispyrophosphate (ppGpp), synthesized by RelA under amino acid starvation conditions. Based on our results, we propose a model in which this third gene, which is unique for chromosomal addiction systems, has a function of limiting the deleterious activity of MazF toxin. In addition, MazG solves a frequently encountered biological problem: how to avoid the persistence of a toxic product beyond the time when its toxicity is useful to the survival of the population.
Borrelia burgdorferi bb0728 encodes a coenzyme A disulphide reductase whose function suggests a role in intracellular redox and the oxidative stress response
Authors: Boylan Julie A. , Hummel Charles S. , Benoit Stéphane , Garcia‐Lara Jorge , Treglown‐Downey Jennifer , Crane Edward J. , Gherardini Frank C. 
Published: November 2005

SummaryThe cellular responses of Borrelia burgdorferiTo reactive oxygen species (ROS) encountered during the different stages of its infective cycle are poorly understood. Few enzymes responsible for protecting proteins, DNA/RNA and lipids from damage by ROS have been identified and characterized. Data presented here suggest that bb0728 encodes an enzyme involved in this process. Biochemical analyses on purified recombinant BB0728 indicated that it functioned as a coenzyme A disulphide reductase (CoADR) (specific activity ≈ 26 units per mg of protein). This enzyme was specific for coenzyme A (CoA) disulphide, required NADH and had no significant activity against other disulphides, such as oxidized glutathione or thioredoxin. The high intracellular concentration of reduced CoA (CoASH) in B. burgdorferi cells (∼1 mM) and absence of glutathione suggest that CoA is the major low‐molecular‐weight thiol in this spirochete. Interestingly, CoASH was able to reduce H2O2 and be regenerated by CoADR suggesting one role for the system may be to protect B. burgdorferi from ROS. Further, mobility‐shift assays and transcriptional fusion data indicated that bb0728 was positively regulated by the Borrelia oxidative stress response regulator, BosR. Taken together, these data suggest a role for BB0728 in intracellular redox and the oxidative stress response in B. burgdorferi.
Biogeography and comparative ecology of testate amoebae inhabitingSphagnum‐dominated peatlands in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of North America
Authors: Booth Robert K. , Zygmunt Jennifer R. 
Published: November 2005

ABSTRACTTestate amoebae (Protozoa: Rhizopoda) are common inhabitants of peatlands. Strong relationships between community composition and substrate moisture inSphagnum‐dominated peatlands have made them particularly useful as hydrological proxies in environmental and palaeoenvironmental research. However, stability of these relationships in geographical space is important for widespread applicability. In this study, we compared testate amoeba communities inhabitingSphagnum‐dominated peatlands of the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of North America. Our primary objectives were to describe patterns of community composition in the two regions, develop hypotheses to explain differences, and determine if taxa occupy similar ecological niches with respect to substrate moisture in both places. Our results indicated that testate amoeba communities are relatively different in the two regions, and these differences are probably caused by differences in climate and peatland trophic status, although other factors may also play a role. However, many taxa do occur in both regions and these taxa had comparable moisture preferences in each region, suggesting that the ecological niches of taxa with respect to substrate moisture are similar even within communities of relatively different composition.
Ecological boundary detection using Carlin–Chib Bayesian model selection
Authors: Nally Ralph Mac 
Published: November 2005

ABSTRACTSharp ecological transitions in space (ecotones, edges, boundaries) often are where ecologically important events occur, such as elevated or reduced biodiversity or altered ecological functions (e.g. changes in productivity, pollination rates or parasitism loads, nesting success). While human observers often identify these transitions by using intuitive or gestalt assignments (e.g. the boundary between a remnant woodland patch and the surrounding farm paddock seems obvious), it is clearly desirable to make statistical assessments based on measurements. These assessments often are straightforward to make if the data are univariate, but identifying boundaries or transitions using compositional or multivariate data sets is more difficult. There is a need for an intermediate step in which pairwise similarities between points or temporal samples are computed. Here, I describe an approach that treats points along a transect as alternative hypotheses (models) about the location of the boundary. Carlin and Chib (1995) introduced a Bayesian technique for comparing non‐hierarchical models, which I adapted to compute the probabilities of each boundary location (i.e. a model) relative to the ensemble of models constituting the set of possible points of the boundary along the transect. Several artificial data sets and two field data sets (on vegetation and soils and on cave‐dwelling invertebrates and microclimates) are used to illustrate the approach. The method can be extended to cases in with several boundaries along a gradient, such as where there is an ecotone of non‐zero thickness.
Habitat and integration within indigenous communities of Xeropicta derbentina (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae) a recently introduced land snail in south‐eastern France
Authors: Aubry Sébastien , Labaune Corinne , Magnin Frédéric , Kiss Laurence 
Published: November 2005

ABSTRACT Xeropicta derbentina is a recently introduced land snail in Provence, France. The present work aims at describing the habitats and the land snail communities that it has invaded. Also, its impact on the species richness and diversity of indigenous communities is assessed. Two areas have been studied in order to cover the range of conditions that X. derbentina is encountering within its current French distribution. Sixty‐five samples were analysed from the most Mediterranean site, Auriol, and 140 from a northern site, Craus de St‐Michel‐l’Observatoire. From these samples, X. derbentina is found to be a thermophilous open‐land species mostly inhabiting human‐impacted habitats. It occurs in large populations (more than 100 individuals collected in 15 min) in habitat characterizing the first stages of secondary successions, from cultivated crops to dense fallow lands. However, within a heterogeneous landscape and if enough time has allowed its dispersal, X. derbentina can be found in almost any kinds of habitat, such as garrigues and woodlands. Consequently, X. derbentina occurs in diverse land snail communities. At the local scale, its large populations could result in a significant decrease in species richness and diversity. At the regional scale, however, the introduction of X. derbentina seems to have increased land snail species richness.
Endemism and sexual systems in the evergreen tree flora of the Western Ghats, India
Authors: Krishnan Rani M. , Ramesh B. R. 
Published: November 2005

ABSTRACTThis study reports the endemism and sexual system in the wet evergreen tree flora of the Western Ghats. A total of 656 species from 66 families and 231 genera were listed. This included a gymnosperm family (Podocarpaceae) and a monocot family (Arecaceae). No family was endemic to the Western Ghats, but 352 species (53%) from 43 families and five genera were endemic. Nearly 35% of the families had no endemics. The largest families with endemics were Dipterocarpaceae (92%), Anacardiaceae (84%), Lauraceae (72%), Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Myrtaceae (68%). The top five contributing families in the tree flora of the Western Ghats were Euphorbiaceae, Lauraceae, Rubiaceae, Myrtaceae and Annonaceae. The 656 species were largely hermaphrodites (57%) followed by dioecious (20%), polygamous (16%) and monoecious species (5%). The rate of dioecy reported in this study (20%) is higher than reports for Puerto Rico (18%) but lower than the Malaysian rainforest (26%). Structurally, like the Neotropical forests, most evergreen forest types of the Western Ghats could be classified into four ensembles. Yet, the Western Ghats had fewer species than other tropical and Neotropical forests. The proportion of endemics in the ensembles of the Western Ghats ranged from 34% (ensemble IV) to 14% (ensemble I).